CHENNAI: Finance Minister PTR Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said in the Assembly on Saturday that the Union government shared with TN only 35 paise for every rupee it earned from the State as tax. He was responding to members who sought an increase in the salary and pension of MLAs. He said a policy decision in this regard will be taken by the Chief Minister.
On the complaint that bureaucrats didn’t respond to the demands and requests of elected representatives, the minister said the responsibilities and boundaries between officials and the elected representatives will be looked into.
On pension schemes, the minister said only Rs 50,000 is needed to spent annually on an employee under the new pension scheme while it is Rs 2 lakh under the old pension scheme. He added there are many difficulties in implementing the old pension scheme. A department policy note reads that an expert panel was constituted by TN government in 2016 to examine the feasibility of implementing the old pension scheme.
Announcements made by the minister
A mobile app will be developed at `20 lakh for submitting applications for competitive examinations held by TNPSC, TRB, TNUSRB, MRB, and TNFUSRB
The planning and development department will set up a sustainable development goals coordination centre in association with the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) to help the State meet the goals
The process to convert service pension to family pension will be simplified
A feasibility study will be held to introduce AC coaches from Chennai Beach to Chengalpattu in collaboration with the Southern Railway
Rs 25 crore will be allocated to address the grievances of pensioners
Measures will be taken to restructure the State government’s debts and a financial analysis centre will be established to study the performance of the government
The efficiency of Tamil Nadu Power Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation, Tamil Nadu Transport Development Finance Corporation, Tamil Nadu Urban Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Service Limited, and Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation will be improved.
The Bureau of Public Enterprises will be modernised at Rs 10 crore to develop public sector units of the State