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White paper on Tamil Nadu’s finances will be released before budget: FM PTR

Finance Minister PTR said that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Relief Fund has received Rs 473 crore in donations till July 8, out of which Rs 421 crore has been spent to tackle the pandemic.

Tamil Nadu Minister for Finance and Human Resources, PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan on Friday said that the state government will soon release the white paper on Tamil Nadu’s finances before presenting the budget for the year. The DMK had made a poll promise to release the white paper to ensure transparency while forming the Tamil Nadu government.

Talking to reporters while unveiling the upgraded website to collect Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, PTR said, “We will release the white papers within a few days or two weeks well before presenting Tamil Nadu budget. The Chief Minister told us to maintain a separate report for funds collected till May 6 and a separate account for the funds collected to handle the pandemic after May 6. So this eases the work and we can ensure transparency by releasing details about expenditures every day.”

PTR added that the Tamil Nadu government has received Rs 472 crore in donations to CM Relief Fund till July 8. Out of the total sum, around Rs 421 crore has been spent for tackling the pandemic and for increasing the supply of oxygen, beds and medicines.

“In a democratic country, it is important that the government is transparent. There should be clarity and transparency on the works done by the government and achievements. That’s why as soon as DMK came to power, the CM said that we should be transparent in all our works including the coronavirus scenario,” he said. 

Speaking about the newly-launched website, PTR said, “The previous website had several disadvantages. The web page was designed by the technology department of the Union government and was not upgraded for several years. There were no links for mobile payment or payments by international banks.”

“Hence, we took the Kerala government’s model to design our website and we have expanded our functionality to make it hassle-free. Also, if people have suggestions to upgrade the website, they can give us inputs,” he added.

Source: The News Minute