R. ARIVANANTHAM
CHENNAI, MARCH 28
Claiming that conventional economic doctrines and dogmas should be set aside temporarily to revive and reinvigorate the economy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to grant Rs 9,000 crore for undertaking coronavirus relief measures in the State.
சென்னையில் #COVID19 மருத்துவமனையாக மாற்றப்பட்டுள்ள ஓமந்தூரார் அரசு மருத்துவக் கல்லூரி மருத்துவமனையில்
தமிழ்நாடு மருத்துவ கழகத்தின் சார்பில் ரூ.10 கோடியில் மருத்துவ உபகரணங்கள் வழங்கவும்
24மணி நேர காய்ச்சல் புற நோயாளிகள் பிரிவு, தீவிர சிகிச்சை பிரிவுகளும் செயல்பட உத்தரவு. pic.twitter.com/fTpBJouuUp
— CMOTamilNadu (@CMOTamilnadu) March 27, 2020
In his letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister noted that further relief measures would still be required in the days to come and substantial expenditure would also be required to be made to ramp up health infrastructure and medical supplies in the state.
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, he said.
“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 Rs one lakh crore as a special grant to them to combat the COVID 19 virus and its aftermath,” Palanisamy said in his letter.
Palaniswami also recalled having requested Modi on March 25 the fiscal deficit limits of 3 per cent of GSDP for the financial years 2019-20 and 2020-21 and additional borrowing of 33 per cent above the level permitted for the fiscal year 2019-20 may be allowed for 2020-21, to enable states to meet additional expenditure requirements.
He also noted that the government has continued to enforce the strict nationwide lockdown to prevent the rapid spread of the COVID -19 virus.
Effective measures to screen, quarantine and isolate where needed, all those with travel history to COVID-19 hot spots, and to complete the contact tracing chains are being taken to contain the social spread.
Essential supplies are being maintained to mitigate the hardship to the common people.
He thanked Modi for the relief measures announced as part of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana. The package of liquidity and interest rate reduction measures announced by the Reserve Bank of India would also be of great help to the economy.
Palaniswami said further relief measures would also be required in the days to come. Substantial expenditure would also be required to ramp up the availability of health infrastructure and medical supplies. 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.
Under the Indian public finance system, only the Government of India can in an eventuality, borrow freely from the monetary authority, the Reserve Bank of India. The economic impact of the lockdown is likely to be very severe and unprecedented. Such difficult times call for unconventional measures to ensure that the economy is revived and re-invigorated. Conventional economic doctrines and dogmas will need to be set aside temporarily, the Chief Minister said in his letter.
Given the abovementioned facts, “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 Rs.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. The funds can be distributed in proportion of the size of each State’s GSDP to the national GDP since the expenditure out of this grant will also pump prime the economy and lead to its revival,” Palaniswami added.
