Jaya raises inter-state issues, GST with Modi

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today took up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi a slew of issues concerning her state, ranging from inter-state river disputes to the GST rollout, besides the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.
Jayalalithaa presented a detailed memorandum to Modi during their 50-minute luncheon meeting at her Poes Garden residence here.
She called for retrieval of Katchatheevu islet from Sri Lanka, besides stressing on India's role to ensure welfare of Lankan Tamils.
The Chief Minister sought central intervention in matters like the Cauvery and Mullaperiyar disputes with Karnataka and Kerala respectively.
In the memorandum, which was released by the state government, Jayalalithaa demanded that the Centre should immediately form the Cauvery Management Board and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee for implementing the final award given by the disputes tribunal.

On Karnataka's proposed dam across river Cauvery at Mekedatu, which Jayalalithaa said was "in violation" of the final award, she urged Modi to advise that the state not to proceed with the project without Tamil Nadu's concurrence.

She also raised the Mullaperiyar issue in which her government had succeeded in a court case for raising the storage level to 142 feet.
Jayalalithaa said there could be a "security threat" to the dam structure and its appurtenant structures "from unruly mobs against whom the Kerala Police, instead of taking action, are acting as mute spectators".
"It is, therefore, imperative to deploy the Central Industrial Security Force to guard the Mullaperiyar Dam and its appurtenant structures," she said.

On the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Jayalalithaa expressed "concern" about the impact the rollout will have on state autonomy, besides the "huge permanent revenue loss".
She recalled having suggested a "radical approach" where levy, collection and appropriation of the substitutes for VAT, Central Excise Duty and Service Tax within a state could be delegated completely to the state machinery, with the central machinery focusing on inter-state taxation.
She said a manufacturing state like Tamil Nadu will "permanently lose substantial revenue" if GST is implemented, due to the shift of levy from the point of origin to the point of destination.