Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan on Friday said the White Paper on the State’s finances would be released much before the presentation of the Budget for 2021-22.
He was speaking to reporters after launching a revamped website for the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund. Mr. Thiaga Rajan said Chief Minister M.K. Stalin wanted to ensure transparency in the receipt of contributions to the Public Relief Fund and how they were being spent. The DMK government had been releasing details of how the funds were being allocated for tackling COVID-19.
The Minister said that in contrast to this, the Prime Minister Cares Fund (launched after the outbreak of the pandemic last year) lacked transparency.
He said contributions amounting to ₹472 crore had been made to the Public Relief Fund after the DMK took over office on May 7. Of this amount, about ₹421 crore had been allocated towards containment measures and building health infrastructure like increasing the number of oxygen beds and oxygen supply.
He said the category of each donor would be mentioned and the funds received before May 6 and after May 7 would be shown separately on the website.
