MADURAI: Udhayanidhi Stalin will be given the deputy chief minister post soon, said Commercial Taxes and Registration Minister P Moorthy on Thursday. The remark comes amid speculation of a cabinet reshuffle in the offing. Addressing media persons after inaugurating an education loan mela at Lady Doak college here, the minister said, an official announcement on Udhayanidhi's elevation would be made "very soon."
Udhayanidhi Stalin's first welfare distribution function was held in Madurai after he assumed charge of his current ministries. In line with this, the DMK leader is scheduled to distribute welfare measures to beneficiaries of the district on September 9. The announcement of his promotion to deputy CM post is expected to precede this event, sources said.
On the subject of tax evasion, minister Moorthy said, "The department is conducting a detailed field inspection to identify individuals who possess a GST number without actually operating a business. Reports will be sent to the Union government so as to cancel their GST registrations."
The minister also stated that the target set for commercial tax collection is Rs 1.42 lakh crore, while the registration target is Rs 23,000 crore. The department has already achieved an additional income of Rs 4,000 crore this year, he added.
Collector MS Sangeetha and Madurai MP S Venkatesan were present.