On Friday, 18th March 2022, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister, PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan presented the budget 2022-23 at the Assembly Hall in Fort St. George. For the first time, the TN budget was presented in a paperless form following the format union budget. Under the ten-month DMK government, this is the first full-fledged budget speech since the August 2021 budget was a precise budget announced for a short term to cover until the fiscal year 2022 budget.
Before beginning the budget announcement, Thiagarajan expressed his deep concerns about the persistent attempts to crumble the federal architecture of the state’s polity. According to The Hindu, He also said that the makers of the constitution had foreseen an amicable relationship between the union and states and built on the foundations of state autonomy and true federalism.
The main focus in this year’s budget was given to education, Social Safety Net, data-driven governance, inter-generational equity and environmental sustainability. During the last budget, agriculture was given pivotal importance. Announcements like a reduction in petrol price, monthly Rs. 1000 for women in the family, free travel for women in government buses and houses for homeless families had drawn the attention of the common people.
Revenue deficit:
Delivering the budget, Thiagarajan said that the fiscal deficit of the state would decline to 3.80% from 4.33% in the 2021-22 budget estimate. From the announcement, the overall revenue deficit decreased to Rs. 55,000 crores against the 2021 budget estimate of Rs. 58,000 crores. In regard to this, he also added that the revenue deficit would decrease by Rs. 7000 crores in this fiscal year.
Key allocations of the Budget:
Education sector:
In the TN budget 2022 pronouncement, comprehensive importance was rendered to all the fields and departments. One among those was that the state would bear the whole cost for undergraduate education for government school students who aspire to join higher education institutions like IIT, IISC and AIIMS. The students who had studied 6th to 12th standard in any government school in the state are eligible for this provision.
To benefit five lakh girl students, the government has announced that all the girl students of Tamil Nadu who had studied 6th to 12th standard in government schools would be paid Rs. 1000 per month directly into their bank account until their uninterrupted completion of undergraduate degree, diploma and ITI courses. Rs. 250 crores have been allocated to upgrade government colleges in the state.
To upgrade the skills of the students, the government allocated Rs. 50 crores for ‘Naan Mudhalvan’ scheme.
The finance minister, said that the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine would cause a huge demand shock and global supply chain disruptions to the state’s economy. On this note, he also added that all needed assistance would be provided for student returnees from the war-torn Ukraine.
Health care and Mental Health
Rs. 1,019 crores have been allocated for the quality enhancement of medical care in the government hospitals of the state. Focusing on mental health, Rs. 40 crores had been allocated for the first phase of the project to establish Tamil Nadu Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences by upgrading the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), Kilpauk.
Environment and Animals
To protect and conserve the ‘State Animal’ of Tamil Nadu, the government have announced ‘Project Nilgiri Tahr’. The finance minister also said that a separate organisation would be set up for Climate Change and green initiatives and funds would be raised from aided institutions.
Startup:
For emerging sector seed funds in the state budget, Rs. 50 crores have been allocated. Future to promote start-ups in the state, an amount of Rs. 30 crores have been allocated in the budget towards TANSIM (Tamil Nadu Start up and Innovation Mission).
Transport:
Mr. Thiagarajan said that the state would get 2,000 electric buses and he also added that the scheme to provide free transportation of women in buses has worked well since the commuters percentage has increased from 40 to more than 60 percent.
The government has announced that the 20.6 km double-decker Maduravoyal – Chennai Port Elevated Corridor Project would be revived and implemented at an estimated cost of Rs. 5,770 crores. For the implementation of the project, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would be signed between the NHAI, the Government of Tamil Nadu, the Navy and Chennai Port.
Tamil Language:
The government has allocated Rs. 82.86 crores to the Tamil Development Department. To translate Periyar’s writings and works in other languages, Rs. 14.5 crore have been allocated. Mr. Thiagarajan said that a committee of Tamil etymologists would be set up to prepare an etymological dictionary to establish a relationship between the Tamil language and the Indo-European language family.
Published By : VATSAL KOTHA
Edited By : KRITIKA KASHYAPÂ
