NITI Aayog: TN CM Stalin slams Centre over “vengeful” Budget, fund allocation
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday accused the Centre of “deceitfully reducing” funds for ongoing projects in the southern state and failing to announce any new projects for it in the recent Union Budget.
In a strong rebuke against the Centre, CM Stalin, who boycotted Saturday’s NITI Aayog meeting along with INDIA-bloc Chief Ministers, denounced the Union Budget 2024 as discriminatory towards Tamil Nadu. “The Modi-led BJP runs the government with a political motive,” he stated, according to the media reports on Saturday.
He described the FY25 Budget, tabled in the Lok Sabha by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23, as a “vengeful act” against states and people opposing the BJP. It seemed crafted to “punish” those who supported the INDIA bloc. The only special project announced for Tamil Nadu all these years is the AIIMS at Madurai. Even after a decade, however, it is far from complete.
He said, despite persistent appeals, Sitharaman made no announcements to address Tamil Nadu’s demands. The state had high expectations for the Central funding of the second phase of the Chennai Metro Rail Project. This Rs. 63,000 crore project, for which Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation stone during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, was supposed to be a joint endeavor between the state and Union governments but Tamil Nadu has been left as the sole driver, he remarked.
Stalin criticized the Union Government for delaying funds for three years without contributing any of its own. “When questioned, they claim in Parliament that this is a state-sponsored project. If that’s the case, would they hand over the railway sector to the state government?” he questioned.
He also pointed out the Centre’s silence on approving the Coimbatore and Madurai Metro Rail projects, while approving and financially supporting metro projects in other smaller cities over the past three years.
Stalin lambasted the Centre for inadequate disaster relief funds following two severe cyclones in Tamil Nadu. Despite a request for Rs. 37,000 crore, the Centre released only Rs. 276 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund, an annual provision. He highlighted the disparity in flood relief allocations, noting that states governed by NDA allies received over Rs. 10,000 crore in this year’s budget.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister also criticized the Centre for withholding funds for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), stating that the BJP-led NDA government insisted on releasing funds only if the National Education Policy (NEP) was implemented.
