Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M K Stalin today described the State budget 2019-20 as disappointing. Reacting to the budget, which was tabled in the Assembly today by Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who also holds the Finance Portfolio, Stalin said, "the budget shows that the Tamil Nadu government only pays interest for its debts."
Stating that there were no schemes for government employees and teachers, the former Deputy Chief Minister also pointed out that there were no announcements to create employment. "This is a disappointing budget. There are no plans to improve revenue. Only mere announcements are there," he added. Panneerselvam today presented a tax free budget for the year 2019-20, with the Revenue deficit expected to come down to Rs 14,315 crore in the coming years.
He said despite the adverse impact of reduced inter-se share in devolution due to the 14th Finance Commission recommendations, the State was able to implement the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojaya (UDAY) Scheme and pay revision.
He said that the growth in State's Own Tax Revenue (SOTR) was 9.07 per cent during 2017-18 and was expected to exceed 14 per cent during 2018-19, he said these positive trends in tax receipts would help in reducing the revenue deficit for the year 2019-20 to Rs 14,315 crore as against the projected Rs 19,319 crore in the 2018-19 Revised Estimates.
