The Centre keeps coming up with schemes but does not pay for them, alleges Thambidurai

Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai on Tuesday said that the central government is just announcing new schemes alone, but not providing any funds for that. The pending dues that they should give to the state amounted to Rs 18,000 crores. But they haven't given a single penny till now.

He also lashed out at the centre for complaining about the state government not implementing the schemes announced by the centre. "When the centre is not providing any funds, how will the state be able to implement their schemes?" he questioned.

Replying to PMK youth wing president Anbumani Ramadoss's statement of accusing the ministers who are involved in corruption with the support of as many as 90 per cent of IAS officers, he said that the government would act on those if he can prove or submit evidence regarding his claim. "First of all, one should understand the difference between Tamil Nadu and other states. It's true that the state government is the one which implements the schemes of central government. But all the funds for these schemes are in the hands of the centre. Now they've changed the state government into like a municipality. Post GST, the situation has got even worse. I accompanied our former Chief Minister Jayalalitha, when she met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and insisted him on paying us the due of Rs 18,000 crores to the state immediately. But till now we haven't received even a single penny," he alleged.

"The centre said they provide funds for the welfare of the SC/ST students here for their educational purposes. But, about Rs.1,000 crores are pending under that scheme alone. The list goes on. They keep announcing new schemes every now and then but not providing funds for those. When the centre is not providing any funds, how will the state be able to implement their schemes?" he asked. "All the MPs were asked to adopt a village by the centre and everyone did so. But if I spend Rs 5 crores for Palaviduthi village alone, then won't the people of other villages question me when I visit them? So, the centre's remarks on state government not implementing the schemes are baseless and totally wrong. In fact not only in Tamil Nadu, but this problem also lies with many other states like Telangana, Kerala, West Bengal. This happened earlier during the Congress regime and is also happening now in the BJP period."