Govt committed to overall development on path shown by Jayalalithaa, says TN Governor

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Monday expressed dismay over the state being treated “unfairly” by successive Finance Commissions, which had resulted in the state incurring a loss of Rs. 6,000 crore annually and expressed the hope that the 15th Finance Commission will “rectify the past injustice.”

The reduced financial allocation for the Centrally sponsored schemes had virtually forced the state to meet the requirement with its own resources, Governor Banwarilal Purohit said in his maiden address to the TN Assembly, after he took charge as Governor in November last year. His speech, boycotted by the DMK and other opposition parties, was punctuated with references to the Central schemes. Rebel AIADMK leader TTV. Dhinakaran, who was recently elected from the city's R. K. Nagar Assembly constituency, however, remained seated in the House listening to his speech and also till Speaker P. Dhanapal read out the Tamil version of Mr. Purohit's address in English.

The government under the leadership of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami would work tirelessly for the overall development of the state and the welfare of the people, the Governor told the Assembly. The government was steadfastly adopting the governance paradigm of inclusive socio-economic development and welfare for all. Noting that the government was guided by the vision of late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa and remains firmly on the path set by the visionary leader in its endeavour to create a true welfare state for the people of TN, he exuded confidence that the Government will provide governance par excellence by formulating policies and implementing programmes for attaining economic prosperity and social equity.

The vision of Ms Jayalalithaa was to make the state prosperous and free from poverty and to ensure social and economic equality.

This vision is the guiding principle of this Government headed by Mr. Palaniswami. “To fulfil this objective, the Government reiterates its commitment to work tirelessly for the overall development of the State and the welfare of the people,” he added.

“This government has high expectations that the fifteenth Finance Commission under the chairmanship of N. K. Singh will rectify the past injustice and meet the resource needs required for fulfilling the genuine aspirations of the people of Tamil Nadu by being fair and equitable to this state,” he said.

Complimenting the state government for its commitment to the Goods and Service Tax (GST), even when faced with the risk of an uncertain effect on the State's revenue initially, Mr Purohit said the earnest preparatory efforts of the Union and State Governments made the transition to the GST regime fairly smooth. Thanking the Centre for insulating the state Government from the revenue reduction risk by providing an effective compensation mechanism and thereby helping the states to secure their fiscal position, he said he was convinced that this historic change would usher in long term economic growth to the country and to the state.

Observing that TN has always been a fiscally prudent state and has waded comfortably through turbulent waters when faced with economic slowdown, the Governor said the state's fiscal position has been resilient and continues to be so, despite unexpected setbacks in revenues.

“'Though there is a concern about increasing revenue deficit due to slow growth in revenue receipts, the state is firmly on the path of containing the fiscal deficit and debt to GSDP ratio within the norms,” he added.

Guv lauds TN for swachh Bharat
TN lauded for active participation in Swachh Bharat Referring to his state-wide reviews, Mr Purohit complimented Tamil Nadu for “active participation,” in “Swachh Bharat Mission,” which was being pursued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a “missionary zeal.”

“During my tours, I witnessed commendable work by the state in implementing this mission. Sixteen districts have achieved open defecation free status under the mission,” he said.

Mr Purohit's tours had evoked strong protest from Opposition parties especially the DMK which alleged that it amounted to interference in the rights of TN.

The Tamil Nadu Government will construct a grand memorial for late CM J. Jayalalithaa on the Marina beach front, said Governor Banwarilal Purohit. Her courage, noble deeds and invaluable contributions to the development of the state and the welfare of its people will remain etched in golden letters in the annals of contemporary history of Tamil Nadu. Also, the government accorded approval to convert Veda Nilayam, the residence of Jayalalithaa at Poes Garden into a memorial, befitting her stature

Two-wheeler subsidy to be hiked
The perpetrators of genocide and war crimes on innocent Tamils in Sri Lanka should be brought to justice. State government is steadfast in supporting the cause of the Sri Lankan Tamils

Centre should give effect to late Jayalalithaa's firm stand to abrogate the 1974 Indo-Sri Lankan agreement and retrieve Katchatheevu islet from Sri Lanka to provide a permanent solution to the vexatious fishermen issue

Inspite of immense fiscal stress and keeping government employees' welfare in mind, Tamil Nadu government will constitute a Committee to examine the representations from various quarters about pay revision

The state has became power surplus due to the steps taken by late Jayalalithaa who ensured a turnaround in the power situation and enabled the State to become power surplus today

I must congratulate the Government and the people of Tamil Nadu for firmly keeping communal, extremist and religious fundamentalist forces at bay. The state government will take all steps to sustain this exemplary record of maintenance of public order and peace in the society, said the Governor

The subsidy limit under the ‘two wheeler scheme’ for working women to be launched soon will be hiked from Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000. The scheme was announced by late Jayalalithaa while releasing the AIADMK’s poll manifesto at Perundurai in the run up to the 2016 Assembly elections