The finance minister of Tamil Nadu, Thangam Thennarasu, presented the budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 in the state assembly. Themed “overcoming obstacles and advancing towards growth,” the budget is said to focus on seven key areas crucial for progress. These areas include improving physical infrastructure, creating job opportunities, enhancing social and healthcare facilities, boosting district export initiatives, refining financial mechanisms, promoting educational excellence, and advocating environmental conservation.
Against this backdrop, the President of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Tamil Nadu strongly criticized the budget and issued an official statement on his official X handle that the DMK government was making empty announcements and failing to deliver on its promises. Annamalai argues that the budget lacks concrete projects, and the government is repeating the same projects from previous years without implementation. He alleged that the DMK had not earmarked funds for most of its announced schemes, relying heavily on the central government’s welfare programs. Annamalai provided examples of how the DMK has renamed central government schemes in the Tamil Nadu budget, such as presenting the POSHAN scheme as ‘Ensure Nutrition’ and the Prime Minister’s Rural Road Scheme as the Chief Minister’s Rural Road Scheme. He claims that the DMK is misleading the public by not acknowledging the central government’s contributions to these programs.
The BJP leader also highlighted discrepancies in the budget, pointing out unfulfilled promises, unspent funds, and the lack of transparency in various allocations. Annamalai questions the effectiveness of the DMK’s financial management, citing concerns about the state’s growing debt burden and the discrepancy between tax revenue growth and government spending.
அறிக்கையின் தொடர்ச்சி (2/2) pic.twitter.com/gsaXdp7qf8
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) February 19, 2024
He wrote, “The DMK, which has been running an advertising regime through empty announcements for three years after coming to power has once again left the people stand in the river who voted for it with a bogus budget.
Apart from the same decorative words appearing in the Tamil Nadu financial report every year, there are no concrete projects made by the Tamil Nadu government. The same projects that have been included in the budget of Tamil Nadu for the last three years, they have not been implemented yet and are being announced again and again every year as new projects. DMK does not seem to have earmarked any funds to implement most of the schemes announced in its election promises.
DMK’s financial statement shows that if the central government’s welfare schemes are removed, what is left is the naming of the bus stand and the advertisements that stand at the level of mere announcements every year. It is a joke that the DMK, which pretends that the central government’s schemes have come up with new names, or hides the central government’s contribution, is stuck unable to fully stage their drama due to lack of foresight.
The press release also pointed out how the TN government had just renamed central government schemes to present them as new schemes. Here are the few of them:
“They have tried to present the central government’s POSHAN scheme as their scheme by calling it ‘Ensure Nutrition’ (Ootachathai Urudhisei). Funding for this is provided by the central government.
The Prime Minister’s House project has been renamed as Kalaignar’s dream house. The funds for the same will go directly to the beneficiaries from the central government. If we change the name of the project, will people believe it? People question as to when Kalaingar, who lived only for his family, thought about the public?
The Prime Minister’s Rural Road Scheme has morphed into the Chief Minister’s Rural Road Scheme. Whether they have implemented them properly is also not the case.
In Tamil Nadu, hill villages are still in a dire situation of being carried on a dolly without road access for emergency medical treatment. This is the true face of the Dravidian model.
Banks provide loan assistance to Women Self Help Groups in the name of central government guidelines. People are wondering what is the DMK government’s contribution in this.
People are not ready to forget easily that the DMK lied in its election promise, that if they came to power, they will waive the jewellery loan. The DMK is advertising about women’s hostels that the central government has come up with in the name of Sakhi Nivas, and renaming them as Thozhi hostels. 20 Sakhi Nivas women’s hostels are functioning in Tamil Nadu. They are unaware of this and have mentioned it as 10 hostels in the financial report of Tamil Nadu.
To increase the green areas of the cities, the project ‘Forests in Cities’ implemented by the Central Government has been in operation since 2020. Already 10 Green ways have been developed in Tamil Nadu through this scheme. Who is the DMK government trying to deceive by hiding this as it is and announcing it as a new scheme?
The Nemmeli, Sea Water Desalination Project was launched in 2020 with a grant of ₹1,200 crore from the Central Government. In April last year, it was reported that the project would be completed and operational. But, like the scheme brought in DMK regime, ₹1,517 Crore allocation in this year’s financial statement is fooling people.
According to the financial report of Tamil Nadu, ₹452 crore has been spent on setting up model schools in Tamil Nadu. But under the Samagra Shiksha scheme, to improve the infrastructure of Tamil Nadu schools, in the last three years more than ten times that Rs. 5,856 crores they forgot to mention that the central government has provided.
Announcing that ₹7,500 crore would be spent over 5 years to improve the infrastructure of schools, till last year, Rs. 3,500 crore of funds have been earmarked under this scheme. But in this year’s report, they said that works worth Rs.2,497 crore are currently being implemented and have allocated another Rs.1,000 crore. This shows that no work has been done till last year.
The central government’s Vishwakarma welfare scheme has been renamed as the Tamil Nadu Artisan Development Scheme. Funding for this is from the central government.
Thus, all the welfare schemes mentioned in the financial statement of the Tamil Nadu government are the schemes which have been implemented for many years under the central government’s financial allocation. DMK stands up to the idea of changing their names and the idea of stickering the Dravidian name on them has become a nose cut.
Has the DMK announced any schemes of their own? Yes, they have. In every annual budget, they announce it without changing a single word. But, nothing has been implemented yet.
An allocation of ₹1,500 crore has been made this year for the rehabilitation of the Adayar river. An allocation of ₹1,500 crore was also made last year for the rehabilitation of Adayar river. We don’t know what happened to those funds.
Every year, for the restoration of temples under the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department, ₹100 crores are usually announced. So far the funds have not been fully spent. Instead, they are taking the temple funds and spending them. Another announcement which does not change every year is the announcement of purchase of new buses and purchase of electric buses. What is the benefit of not filling the driver vacancies to run the existing buses and just making announcements of purchase every year?
Last year, the DMK announced ₹1,000 crores worth of projects to protect the welfare of fishermen, but did not disclose how much money has been spent on them so far. No details have been given about the allocation of funds for fishermen under the scheme.
It is reported that 60,567 people have been given government employment in the last three years. Out of which only 10,600 vacancies are provided by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission. The Tamil Nadu government should clarify how the remaining 50,000 posts were filled.
To top it all, Tamil Nadu’s own tax revenue has grown by 19%, but only 12% has grown, questioning the DMK government’s financial management.
The DMK only mentioned that total debt burden of the Tamil Nadu government will rise to 8.3 lakh crores in the next year, but forgot to mention the total debt burden of Tamil Nadu in the financial statement. The total debt burden of Tamil Nadu is Rs. 9.5 lakh crore would be more. DMK’s only achievement was to increase the total loan amount from Rs 5.6 lakh crore last year by raising to Rs 4 lakh crore within 4 years.
DMK’s election promises that were not included in this year’s financial statement either.
- A subsidy of ₹100 for each cylinder
- The 100-day work schedule will be increased to 150 days
- Cancellation of education loan
- Earmarking ₹15,000 crore to provide loan assistance in easy installments to re-operate industries closed during the Covid-19 pandemic
- MSP for paddy will be raised to ₹2500 per quintal, while the MSP for sugarcane will be raised to ₹4000
- Petrol price reduction by ₹5 per litre and diesel price by ₹4 per litre
- Free tablets to students studying in higher secondary schools and colleges in TN – these tablets will be provided with internet connection download facility 10GB per month in 4G & 5G internet service
- 2 lakh houses will be built for fishermen
- Permanent job assurance for Part-time teachers and nurses
- Electricity to be billed once a month
Annamalai concluded, “What is the benefit to the people of reading financial status report for three consecutive years without any announcements about important promises in 511 election promises? The reality is that the Chief Minister, who goes on pleasure trips with his family to foreign countries every year in the name of attracting investment, has not brought even a single rupee of investment to Tamil Nadu so far. How many days can we go on with this worn-out Dravidian model of putting the burden of debt on the heads of the people, without the thought of people’s welfare programs in the financial statement, without fully implementing the programs already in operation, without fulfilling the election promises? People are watching.”
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