PMK founder S. Ramadoss on Tuesday said that the Centre should immediately allocate the ₹12,000 crore sought as aid to the Tamil Nadu government to help in its fight against COVID-19.
In a statement, Dr. Ramadoss said that the Central government has equal responsibility to bring the cases down in Tamil Nadu. “Tamil Nadu’s revenue has reduced by one third. The government is forced to borrow money to pay salaries and has said that it does not have money for carrying out preventive steps to stop the spread of COVID-19. In this scenario, it is the responsibility of the Centre to provide financial help to the States,” said Dr. Ramadoss.
“Apart from the regular medical and paramedical staff, 2,221 postgraduate doctors and 2,323 nurses have been appointed in temporary positions and the retiring doctors and nurses have been given extensions temporarily. Therefore, expenses in the medical department have increased with the Tamil Nadu government already spending a huge amount in controlling the spread of COVID-19,” said Dr. Ramadoss.
Dr. Ramadoss said that Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s request in the consultative meetings held with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 17 that Tamil Nadu be allocated funds, should be adhered to, along with its share of tax revenues and additional food grains.
