Tamil Nadu Finance Minister P.T.R. Palanivel Thiagarajan, on Friday, said the government will soon release a detailed white paper on the state's finances. The white paper, he said, will be released well before the budget session, in a week or two.
The DMK government, led by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, had promised to release the white paper to reveal to the people the precarious position of the state’s finances. The recent CAG report, submitted in the assembly during the debate on governor’s address, pointed out the huge losses incurred by the government in the electricity sector.
Minister Thiagarajan said this while launching an upgraded website for The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. The upgraded version of the website allows hassle-free transfer of funds by the donors. Noting that the state, since May 7, 2021, received a total of Rs. 472 crore towards the fund, the minister said, “We want to maintain transparency in receiving donations and also accounting the funds donated for CMRF. Our chief minister is very particular that the government maintains transparency in the receipt and for which the money is spent.”
Out of the Rs.472 crore received, a total of Rs 421 crore has been spent towards COVID-19 relief works and building infrastructure, including various measures like setting up of oxygen beds and improving oxygen supply.
In fact, exactly a year before, when the AIADMK was in power, the Madras High Court instructed the government to be transparent in recording the transactions with regard to Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Justices M.M. Sundresh and R. Hemalatha recorded the submissions made by the then AIADMK government on the steps being taken to upload all details on the web portal through the National Informatics Centre (NIC). The then treasurer of Chief Minister’s Relief Fund informed the court that the donations were received through cheques and online payment gateways. The officer then informed the court that the updates could not be carried out due to lockdown.
However, within two months after taking over, the DMK government ensured that the website is upgraded to categorise the donors in terms of payment gateways and also give out the details on spending. “We considered the different websites of various states and of them the Kerala model was the best. But our upgraded website is ahead of the Kerala website. We will continue to upgrade it as and when required,” Thiagarajan informed.
Apparently, the website upgradation is one of the steps taken by the DMK government in ensuring transparency in governance, as promised by CM Stalin.
