Flagging the various financial challenges Tamil Nadu was facing, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Sunday argued that it was time to think of a new model of sharing of resources between the States and the Centre. He suggested that the States be allowed to appropriate revenue through indirect taxes and personal income tax.
Participating in the NITI Aayog’s fourth Governing Council meeting in New Delhi, Mr. Palaniswami reiterated that some Terms of Reference of the 15th Finance Commission were antithetical to the federal principles of the Constitution.
“Unlike the Centre, the States in general, and Tamil Nadu in particular, have limited powers to mobilise resources, and with the growing aspirations of the people, the resource requirements of States for financing development have been rising,” he pointed out.
“In the post-GST era, the flexibility of States to augment their own resources and mobilise more [resources] is very limited. It is time we think of a new model of resource sharing to effectively deal with the present developmental challenges,” Mr. Palaniswami said.
Reiterating the State’s concerns over the Terms of Reference of the 15th Finance Commission, which “would pain us further” unless some of them were corrected, Mr. Palaniswami said, “Some of them are not in line with the principles of federalism enshrined in our Constitution and have to be reconsidered.”
Mandating the commission to use the 2011 Census data on population was “unfair and penalises States like Tamil Nadu for being progressive,” he contended.
The Chief Minister reiterated the State’s stand against the revision of the guidelines for the implementation of the Post Matric Scholarship Scheme (PMSS). “The revision has effectively blunted our ability to improve the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education any further,” he said. Besides requesting the Centre for the reimbursement of pending dues to Tamil Nadu under PMSS, which stood in excess of ₹1,804 crore as of March 2018, Mr. Palaniswami suggested that this scheme may be funded using a 60:40 sharing formula between the Centre and the States.
The immediate operationalisation of the Cauvery Water Management Authority and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee, the inter-linking of rivers through the nationalisation of inter-State rivers, and a workable and comprehensive social safety net to cushion farmers from sudden economic and natural shocks were among the other issues raised by the Chief Minister with the Centre.
‘No crackdown’
The Chief Minister denied that the police were cracking down on protesters who were raising issues affecting their livelihood.
Interacting with mediapersons, Mr. Palaniswami claimed that protesters had been apprised of the steps being taken against Sterlite Copper.
As for the criticism of his failure to visit Thoothukudi, where 13 people died in police firing last month, he referred to the visits of Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and Information Minister Kadambur C. Raju to the district.
