The state government had set up the committee under the former Governor of RBI, C Rangarajan in May 2020.
The Rangarajan Committee set up by the government of Tamil Nadu has recommended complete lifting of lockdown restrictions and spending Rs 10,000 crore over and above the budgeted amount on capital expenditure for economic revival. The Committee headed by the former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), was set up in May by the state government to come up with short and medium-term measures to revive the state’s economy from the COVID-19 impact.
According to reports, the Committee submitted its report to Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday, in which it has also recommended that the state use the Rs 3200 crore construction sector funds that are lying idle to revive the economy. Suggesting that the state government needs to find other ways to contain the spread of the virus than imposing lockdowns, the Committee said that the state’s economy could reach pre-COVID levels in two months if the recommendations are followed. The Committee also pegged the maximum economic growth that is possible during the 2020-21 fiscal for Tamil Nadu at 1.71%.
Suggesting that the state government continue its relief measures by providing free rice to people even after November, the Committee also said that the government may come up with an employment guarantee scheme for urban areas too, on the lines of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. (MGNREGS), as per a report. The Committee further recommended that the state government spend Rs 5000 crore on expanding the health infrastructure in the state and for COVID-19 facilities.
The 24-member committee was formed in May and state Chief Finance Secretary S Krishnan is the coordinator of the committee. The panel includes N Narayanan, former Chief Secretary and members from the industry and development sector like A Vellayan (former Chairman of Murugappa Group), N Srinivasan (Managing Director, India Cements), Venu Srinivasan (Chairman, TVS Motors), PN Vasudevan (MD and CEO, Equitas Bank), Padmaja Chunduru (MD, Indian Bank), M Suresh Babu (IIT-Madras) and Pinaki Chakraborty (Co-ordinator, UNICEF Chennai).
Source: The News Minute