Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami said in the Assembly on Thursday that it was important that the quantum of personal income tax collected from a State is taken into account while determining the share of devolution to that State.
He said that there was a need to amend the existing system of devolution in accordance with the changing times.
In his speech during the debate on the motion of thanks for the Governor’s Address to the Assembly, Mr. Palaniswami said that linking personal income tax with devolution would serve as an encouragement to States where the collection of income tax was high. It was necessary for the State government to take such initiatives, he said, pointing out that fiscal federalism was among the key issues between the Central and State governments.
Stating that the GST regime had its pros and cons, Mr. Palaniswami said that it would have been appropriate had the Governor’s Address spelt out the changes needed in the sharing of funds between the Central and State governments.
Tamil Nadu would be able to remain the Number Two State in the country only if it maintained 9% growth, Mr. Palaniswami said, adding, “If not, States like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat or Karnataka would surpass us.” He accused the DMK government of not taking steps to address the issue.
He also sought a White Paper from the government on the status of the 52 committees that were constituted to look into various issues since it came to power in May 2021. He criticised the government for having constituted committees for every other issue and sought to know how many of them have actually submitted their final report.
When Mr. Palaniswami referred to the committee constituted with economic experts, Leader of the House Duraimurugan pointed out that the erstwhile AIADMK regimes too had constituted committees. Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu said that the panel with economic experts deliberated on the beneficiaries to be covered under the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai scheme.
As for Palaniswami’s criticism of the DMK government over credits, Mr. Thennarasu said that loans were availed to support various welfare programmes. Mr. Palaniswami also flagged the loss by farmers due to mealy bugs in tapioca crop and due to Fall Armyworm in maize cultivation.
