CHENNAI: Finance Minister N Marie Wilson on Wednesday defended the revised budget allocations, saying changes were made based on actual revenue and expenditure, and that no major welfare or education scheme faced cuts.
On unfulfilled poll promises, Wilson said the government would implement all its commitments when resources permitted. He pointed out that the DMK government had also taken time to implement the Magalir Urimai Thogai scheme, which was promised in its 2021 manifesto but launched only in September 2023.
Former finance minister and DMK MLA Thangam Thennarasu questioned the widening revenue deficit and asked how the government planned to raise `15,000 crore in three months, especially after accounting for the `11,000 crore allocated for the new pension scheme. Wilson said the entire `15,000 crore has not yet been received but revenue has “begun to flow”.
He also said the union government had provided `12,643 crore under the VB-G RAM G scheme and `1,545 crore for providing 200 units of free electricity. These formed part of `18,000 crore in additional grants and fund transfers, he said.
Defending the revised allocation for school education, Wilson said the department had spent `42,351 crore last year against an interim allocation of `48,531 crore. The revised budget had corrected the difference of around `6,180 crore, he said. “This is an honest correction, not a cut in priority for education,” Wilson said, adding that no school or higher education scheme had been discontinued.
‘Regrets & lies’
On Wednesday, Wilson expressed regrets for his “somewhat agitated” response in the Assembly to remarks on his Tamil. Stating that Tamil was his mother tongue too, Wilson said mistakes in the first budget would be corrected in the next.
During the debate, the minister said, “Our leader (Vijay) is proof that victory is possible without lying (poi) or taking shortcuts.” This led to a brief exchange between DMK, AIADMK and TVK over the usage of the word lie (poi).
The Speaker then asked the finance minister to substitute the word “lie” with “contrary to facts” as per House convention.