TN govt seeks Rs 138.58 cr for water resource development

The Tamil Nadu government has asked the Union ministry of rural development to release its first installment of Rs 138.56 crore towards the drinking water programme in the state. In a letter to Union minister Jairam Ramesh, chief minister J Jayalalithaa has said that the level of expenditure had gone up substantially in the state towards the development of water resources.

The chief minister said that the closing balance of funds under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) for Tamil Nadu was Rs 243.86 crore as on March 31, 2012. Of this amount, Tamil Nadu received Rs 58.33 crore in March as an incentive fund for good performance based on Management Devolution Index.

 

Further, an additional allocation of Rs 98.20 crore was received in April, based on Tamil Nadu’s good performance and considering the fact that the state had utilised more than 60 per cent of the available funds under NRDWP. So far, a total sum of Rs.168.77 crore was received by Tamil Nadu in the months of March and April 2012.

The chief minister said that from April 2012, to date, the state has spent a sum of Rs 87.45 crore under NRDWP. The rural development ministry’s Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) also shows the expenditure of Tamil Nadu as Rs 50.71 crore as on June 30, 2012.

“While my state government was expecting an early release of funds based on the assurance given by you in the recently-held meeting, your letter of July 4, 2012, has come as a rude shock,” the chief minister said.

“This is more so in the context wherein for some other states, which had a higher opening balance than Tamil Nadu and whose expenditure level was almost on par with Tamil Nadu as per your own IMIS report, a substantial amount of money has been released during 2012-13 as well. Such differential treatment and discrimination against Tamil Nadu leads me to wonder whether the release of funds is being done on a purely objective basis”.

The chief minister has asked the ministry to ensure that Tamil Nadu’s first installment of Rs 138.58 crore was released without any further delay.