In a video clipping shared by DMK mouthpiece Sun News, Vice Chairman of State Planning Commission (SPC) J Jeyarajan is seen peddling lies about the press interview given by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman a few days ago regarding the recent floods in Tamil Nadu.
The self-proclaimed ‘economist’ started by stating how he could not watch Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s interview even for a few minutes because of the “arrogance in the language used as well as the Finance Minister’s body language”. He claimed it belittled the distress of the people of Tamil Nadu.
He claimed the CAG looks into the expenditures of the governments and should not talk about the 4000 crore expenditure of the state government.
The host quoted Tamil Nadu BJP President Annamalai as having said that the relief fund comes from the central government and that is what is being distributed by the state government (6000 rupees). To this Jeyarajan replies, “Why are repeating, Delhi money, Delhi money? Where does Delhi get its money from? Does Delhi have something like a separate lunar satellite? Does it have land on Mars or the Moon from where they can give alms to the people here? What you are collecting is from our pocket. Are you not collecting from the people here? Then why are you repeating that you are the ones giving the relief funds? It is for ease of business that you have been made to sit there. First, remember that you are not masters (yejamanargal). They don’t seem to realise this. The language she used stems from that only. Are they our masters? Are they masters of the Indian Union? They behave like that but that is not their job. They collect tax from the people and then decide how to use it and for what, there are instructions and procedures for that.”
He also added, “This 1200 crore is usually given by the centre to every state as relief every time. Small such incidents happen and there are procedures to estimate the costs. With that, they allot a specific amount based on the state and its risk factors. When there comes a disaster worse than the regular ones, at that time the NDRF comes into the picture to oversee the expenses. A team will be sent to study the ground situation. You all would have seen the team on the news after the recent Chennai floods. They all praised the government for the measures taken. But she is sitting in Delhi and saying they didn’t do anything here.”
The host quoted the Chief Minister as saying the 6000 rupee relief amount is from the State government’s pocket and not from the centre. He quotes a few WhatsApp messages stating that the state government is either pocketing the funds from the centre and giving meagre amounts to the people or that the state is contributing less to the actual amount. To this Jeyarajan replies, “There are procedures in place for this. When spending government money, you feel you are some big donor giving money from your own pocket? You cannot do that, you have to follow rules. Everything is accounted for – that is how it is done – what/how much goes to whom. The ones doing the survey are responsible for that. They cannot claim that the state government has not passed on to the people what was given by the central government. This is because you can only spend the money from the government coffers without violating the rules. It is not possible to do what is being claimed.”
Watch | "நிதியமைச்சர் நிர்மலா சீதாராமன் பேட்டியை சில நிமிடங்கள் கூட என்னால் பார்க்க முடியவில்லை.." – ஜெ.ஜெயரஞ்சன், மாநில திட்டக்குழு துணைத் தலைவர்#SunNews | #NirmalaSitharaman | #TNSouthFlood pic.twitter.com/gEb1lG7WEM
— Sun News (@sunnewstamil) December 25, 2023
Slamming these lies, State Secretary of Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party, SG Suryah exposed the truth on his official X handle. He wrote, “Jeyaranjan & his Dravidian Stock lies never end. States receive 100% of State GST (SGST) collected in that state, approximately 50% of IGST collected in the state, and a portion of CGST is also devolved to the states based on the Finance Commission’s recommendations. Industrialised states like Tamil Nadu have several companies with pan-India operations and concurrent tax payments. For example, Tamil Nadu is one of the leading automobile manufacturing states in the country. Manufacturers make a profit because these automobiles are sold across the country. Similarly, plantations from Kerala make profits by selling across India. This explains why the location of direct tax collection may not be a fair and equitable principle for the sharing of tax because although the money comes from everywhere across India, tax is paid in the state where the companies are registered.
So, if automobile companies selling across India are registered in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu and they pay their taxes from there, it’s not just Tamil Nadu’s tax money that is there.”
#Jeyaranjan & his Dravidian Stock lies never end.
States receive 100% of State GST (SGST) collected in that state, approximately 50% of IGST collected in the state, and a portion of CGST is also devolved to the states based on the Finance Commission's recommendations.… https://t.co/4pSryndje5 pic.twitter.com/pu3fcZgzcV
— Dr.SG Suryah (@SuryahSG) December 25, 2023
Suryah also shared an infographic on the tax devolution comparison between UPA and NDA decades which shows a 3x increase from UPA. The grants-in-aid from Govt of India comparison also shows an almost 4x increase from 10 years of UPA to 9 years of NDA government.
It is noteworthy that Sun News was under scrutiny recently for disseminating fake news concerning Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remarks during a press conference held on 22 December 2023. The news outlet reported that Sitharaman had allegedly stated, “We cannot announce the severe flood damages in Tamil Nadu as a national disaster.” The FM had not made any such statements during the presser.
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