The Union Department of Expenditure received three representations from the Tamil Nadu government last year for additional allocations for various development works.
A sum of ₹10,933 crore was transferred to the State in 2019-20 under different centrally-sponsored schemes, Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said while replying to a question from Congress MP S. Jothimani in the Lok Sabha.
The Department had received representations from the State government on February 13, February 16 and July 23 last year, he said. “These representations have been forwarded to concerned line Ministries/Departments for necessary action,” the Minister added.
A sum of ₹11,337.62 crore was transferred to T.N. in 2015-16, ₹10,058.65 crore in 2016-17, ₹8,563.64 crore in 2017-18 and ₹10,011.61 crore in 2018-19 under the centrally-sponsored schemes, according to the Minister. The delay in payments under the centrally-sponsored schemes has been one of the key complaints of the State government. State Finance Secretary S. Krishnan recently pointed out that dues from the Centre stood at ₹12,263 crore, which included grants for local bodies and other centrally-sponsored schemes.
In the last five years, ₹969.43 crore was sanctioned as a special one-time assistance to Tamil Nadu for the modernisation of the State police and the development of the fisheries sector, among other purposes, according to the information provided in the Lok Sabha.
To Ms. Jothimani’s query on the measures taken by the government to address the delay in the sanctioning of funds for payment of MGNREGA wages to workers in Karur, Mr. Thakur said the release of funds to the States/U.T.s, including Tamil Nadu, was a continuous process and the Central government was committed to making funds available, keeping the demand for work in mind.
