Centre has done little to ease TN's financial burden: Thangam Thennarasu

CHENNAI: The Central government has done precious little to ease Tamil Nadu's financial burden, the state Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu claimed on Friday and accused it of following different yardsticks in devolving funds to states. For every single rupee given to the Centre, the state got back only 29 paise but the ratio was different in the BJP-ruled states, he said.

''As I have already mentioned in the Assembly, for every rupee we give to the Centre, we get back just 29 paise. But in BJP-ruled states, this ratio is completely different,'' Thennarasu told reporters here in response to the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's assertion on Thursday that the Centre released more funds to Tamil Nadu without any discrimination.

For instance, from the financial year 2014-15 to 2022-23, the Centre gave Rs 4.75 lakh crore to Tamil Nadu including the Central tax share of Rs 2.46 lakh crore and subsidy of Rs 2.28 lakh crore. At the same time, the direct tax collections accounted to Rs 6.23 lakh crore, he said.

The Centre has not yet shared the revenue collected through indirect taxes, he added. During the same period, the BJP-ruled states were given Rs 15.35 lakh crore for providing Rs 2.23 lakh crore to the Centre, he claimed. Speaking at the 'Viksit Bharat Sankalp' programme in the city, Sitharaman had said from 2014 to 2023 the Centre received Rs 6.23 lakh crore as direct tax (income tax and corporate tax) from Tamil Nadu but gave back Rs 6.96 lakh crore to the state during the same period.

''When we look at whether the Union government has done anything to help the state government, then it is a matter of regret that it has not,'' Thannarasu said. The DMK came to power in 2021 in the midst of a severe financial crisis - legacy left behind by the ten years of the AIADMK's rule in the state, he said and listed out the various initiatives including Rs 4,000 each given to the family ration cardholders as relief during the pandemic.

''Chief Minister M K Stalin has been magnanimous in reaching out to the people during difficult times. Even during the natural calamity in December 2023, he extended flood relief assistance of Rs 2,027 crore to the people without waiting for Central aid,'' Thennarasu said.

On the Union Finance Minister's claim that the money obtained assess and surcharge from Tamil Nadu were given back to the state for development, Thennarasu alleged Tamil Nadu's ''legitimate share has decreased.''

On Central funding for projects he said, though the foundation stone for the Rs 63,246 crore Phase II of the Chennai Metro Rail project was laid, the state government has not yet received the matching contribution from the Centre. Whereas Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal and Gujarat have received funds above Rs 10,000 crore, he claimed.