“It is our duty to point out that 50 per cent of this relief has been actually borne by the state governments, a fact which the Union has failed to acknowledge as well as appreciate,” the Chief Minister wrote on ‘X’, to put the record straight.
File Photo: IANS
While the Union Government has been tom-tomming the GST reform as the festival gift to the people, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday drew attention to the fact that it was the states that bore 50 per cent of the burden, which has not been acknowledged by the Prime Minister.
“It is our duty to point out that 50 per cent of this relief has been actually borne by the state governments, a fact which the Union has failed to acknowledge as well as appreciate,” the Chief Minister wrote on ‘X’, to put the record straight.
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Countering Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said that Indians would save Rs 2.5 lakh crore following the GST reforms, Stalin said, “This is what the opposition had been demanding from the very beginning. If these measures had been taken eight years ago, families across the country would have already saved many lakh crores more.”
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Further, accusing the Union Government of not acknowledging and appreciating the role of states in national development, Stalin said it had been punishing Tamil Nadu for refusing to accept Hindi imposition, among other things. “The Union BJP Government is denying funds that rightfully belong to the states. Tamil Nadu is being denied #SamagraShiksha funds only because we refuse to accept #HindiImposition. When will this injustice end? India cannot grow by punishing states that defend their rights and stand for their people,” he wrote, adding, “Respect federalism, release funds, and let the people benefit from what is rightfully theirs.”
The Chief Minister’s caustic reaction comes in the wake of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan reiterating that SSA funds to the tune of Rs 2152 crore withheld by the Ministry, would be released only upon Tamil Nadu entering into an MoU on implementing the New Education Policy (NEP) and its Three-Language formula. Tamil Nadu has been resisting the NEP, on the grounds that it is a ploy for Hindi imposition and Sanskrit hegemony. The state has been following a two-Language policy (mother tongue Tamil and English) since 1968 onward. Further, the State Government had filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Union Government to release the SSA funds.
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