Tamil Nadu CM asks PM Modi for Rs 9K crore grant to fight COVID

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy urged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allocate Rs 9,000 crore as a special grant to combat Covid-19 and its after-effects on the State economy, besides stepping up to Rs 3000 crore the Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness package.

‘We have received Rs 512.64 crore from the Centre in two tranches under the package out of an envelope of Rs 712.64 crore allotted to Tamil Nadu,’ Palaniswamy said while addressing the meeting of Chief Ministers with the Prime Minister through video conference on Tuesday.

Both Central and State Tax revenue would fall short of the Budget Estimates and to make up for the shortfall, Tamil Nadu may be allocated the special grant, he said, besides seeking the early release of GST compensation for April-June, 2020.

‘As we have already fully exhausted the State Disaster Response and Mitigation Fund, I also request an ad-hoc grant of Rs 1,000 crore from NDRF immediately to fight the pandemic,’ he said.

He sought the release of pending CMR subsidy of Rs 1,321 crore to facilitate paddy procurement and requested for a relief package to ease the immediate burden on the power sector, which will help distressed Discoms.

‘I request you to instruct the concerned Ministry to remove the requirements for the power sector reform and also to allow greater latitude to States in implementing the reform agenda,’ Palaniswamy told the Prime Minister.

He wanted Modi to instruct SIDBI to provide at least Rs 1000 crore as refinance facility to Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation Limited from the RBI special packages, which would help revive MSMEs.

Other things he asked for include a special loan product for Covid-19 for SHGs by all banks with an enhanced loan amount of at least Rs 2 lakh per group, bringing in all districts in Tamil Nadu in Category-I for enhanced upfront interest subvention and implementation of CGFMU Scheme of enhanced bulk loans with Government of India guarantee to SHGs.

Thanking the Prime Minister for the  continuous guidance and support in tackling the Coronavirus pandemic, Palaniswamy explained in detail the steps taken by him and his government to control the spread of the virus.

“I would like to highlight that Tamil Nadu is continuing its strategy of aggressive, targeted testing and is currently conducting the maximum number of PCR tests in the country. Tamil Nadu presently has 130 labs for COVID testing with 61 Government and 69 private labs, with an average testing capacity of 65,000 tests per day. These tests cost nearly Rs 5 crore a day. I request Government of India to fund 50% of the cost of the PCR tests from the PM – CARES fund,’ he said.

He said 32,92,958 samples had been tested for COVID-19, out of which 3,02,815 persons were tested positive and 53,099 active cases were in the State currently. Tamil Nadu provided effective medical treatment due to which the State has maintained a low death rate, which was at 1.6%, one of the lowest in the country, he said.

Palaniswamy asked for funds to procure high-end ventilators since the Centre was supplying ventilators to States through PM - CARES fund.

‘Your announcement of extending free supply of rice and whole Channa Dal to the priority households is truly a welcome measure.I would like to inform you that whole Channa Dal is not part of the staple diet of the people of Tamil Nadu. Based on my earlier letter to you in this regard, I request you to release 55,637 MT of Toor Dal to the state for distribution till November,’ he said.

As per the guidelines of the Centre, Tamil Nadu had ensured the return of nearly 3.77 lakh migrant labours in 253 trains with the State bearing the entire cost and had received 60,875 passengers under Vande Bharat and Samudra Setu Missions as well as private flights, he said.