“It is public money, not party funds,” with this the Madras High Court struck down the Tamil Nadu government’s decision of gifting Rs 1000 to each ration card holder. The Governor Banwarilal Purohit on January 2 had announced in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, that the cash prize will be awarded to all ration holders in the state on the occasion of Pongal festival. On January 5, Chief Minister K Palaniswami launched the scheme by gifting 10 beneficiaries Rs 1,000 each at a function.
The court has now asked the government to hand out the cash prize to families which are below the poverty line(BPL)
Rs 1,000 prize on Pongal
The Madras HC was hearing a Public Interest Litigation case filed by a Coimbatore-based activist Daniel Jesudoss, as reported by The Times of India. Jessudass said that the announcement made by the government without taking consideration the state financial condition. He further wrote that at present the total loan liability of the Tamil Nadu exceeded that of states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra. He also wrote that the current tax revenue of Tamil Nadu stood at Rs 1,12,616 crore whereas the total liability stood at Rs 3,55,845 crore.
Jesudass said, “When the state is in dire need of funds to restore normalcy in cyclone Gaja-affected districts, the government should not be allowed to bring such further burden to the treasury which would eventually be passed on to the people of the state.”
“It will only increase the burden”
The Court observed that in gifting Rs 1000 to all ration card holders, a total of about Rs 2,000 crore would be spent which would be used for relief works in Cyclone Gaja-hit districts, in infrastructure or other purposes. The Court said, “But what’s the intention behind giving away Rs. 1,000 to all ration card holders? Already reeling under big financial burden, it will only increase the burden on the state government.” The Court said that if political parties give away their money, questions will not be raised, however, in this case, state government’s money was being splurged, as reported by NDTV.
The scheme announced by the state government was being implemented at a budget of Rs 258 crore and it was planned that gift hampers consisting of raw rice, sugar, dry fruits and sugarcane would be distributed through fair price shops.
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