Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, in a letter written to Mr. Narendra Modi, has urged the Prime Minister to grant a sum of INR 9000 crore to fight the COVID-19 situation.
INR 9000 Cr. to Tamil Nadu+ 1 Lakh Crores to all State Governments
In a detailed letter, here is what the CM of Tamil Nadu had to say about the situation.
“I request that the Government of India, in addition to permitting the additional borrowing by State Governments, should provide an aggregate amount of at least ₹1 lakh crore as a special grant to the State Governments to combat the COVID-19 virus and its aftermath. This needs to be in addition to the other forms of financial transfers to the States envisaged in the Union Budget and can be financed by the Government of India borrowing from the Reserve Bank of India.”
Mr. Palanaswami further added:
“The expenditure out of this grant will also pump prime the economy and lead to its revival. I request that Tamil Nadu may be given a grant of ₹9000 crores under this special dispension,”.
Apart from this, he also thanked the PM for the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana and the latest measures taken by the Government to combat the situation. He also stressed the fact the responsibility of ensuring the correct implementation of the lockdown will fall with the state governments.
More on the economy
In the letter dated March 25th, Tamil Nadu CM had more to say about the economy.
“Eventually, measures would also have to be taken to revive economic growth, assist various sectors to return to their growth trajectory and to stimulate consumption and investment demand. All governments will suffer substantial reductions in tax and revenue receipts and it would not be possible to step up revenue raising for a while. However, the expenditure needs and responsibilities will not wait,”.
He also said:
“While this will certainly help the States to immediately incur expenditure, States naturally have a limitation on how much they can borrow in the markets and will be crippled by massive repayment obligations if they borrow too much. But the onus on reviving the economy by fuelling consumption and investment falls on the Governments at this time,”.
