Chennai: Politicians, economists and the public shared mixed views about Tamil Nadu budget 2022-23 presented by state Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan in the Assembly on Friday. In the second budget presented by the Finance Minister, he gave emphasis to education and the Dravidian model of governance among others.
According to a report on IANS, former Finance Minister and AIADMK Coordinator O Panneerselvam reacting to the budget proposals said the budget lacks foresight and will not help the common man to improve his life.
Panneerselvam said the budget does not have provisions for fulfilling various poll promises made by the DMK party like increasing old-age pension, financial assistance to the women heads of families, increasing the revenue from mining and other sources.
Panneerselvam who had handled the finance portfolio when the AIADMK was in power said the budget does not have anything on increasing the state's revenues or cutting down costs.
President of Manitheneya Makkal Katchi, MH Jawahirullah said the budget is growth-oriented and inclusive. He said while new tax announcements were expected, the Finance Minister has presented a tax-free growth-oriented budget.
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PMK Founder S Ramadoss welcomed some of the budget proposals and said there are no special schemes to take the state on the forward path.
He said the increasing debt burden-expected to be about Rs 6.53 lakh crore by March 31, 2023 is a worrying factor.
The President of the Tamil Nadu BJP K Annamalai said the state government has announced schemes by naming the central government schemes and the budget is silent on the DMK party's poll promises.
However, Tamil Nadu's budget for 2022-23 is a disappointment for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) as it is similar to that of the Union Budget supporting 'doing well' industries, said KE Raghunathan, Convenor, Consortium of Indian Associations.
"The budget is not addressing the core needs of MSMEs today. Sorry Finance Minister. We expected more from you for uplifting the suffocating MSMEs. But our pain continues and the struggle goes on," Raghunathan said.