DMK takes on government on revenue deficit, 'fall in' capital outlay

CHENNAI: The AIADMK government found itself on the defensive when DMK MLA E V Velu demanded to know why there was a deficit in the revenue account and why the capital outlay had come down. Starting the budget debate in the assembly on Monday, Velu alleged that many Central projects were pending as the state government did not support them.
He listed several highway projects and named a national highway officer, who he claimed had accused the state government of not supporting the Centre in completing the projects.If all the projects had been completed, people would have spent their income and the tax revenue would have gone up, he said.
"The Chennai-Tirupathi highway has not been completed, so too the Tindivanam-Krishnagiri road project. If these highway projects had been completed, people would have been employed and their income would have been spent on purchasing essential commodities while the company would have spent on purchasing stones, cement etc for laying the road. The government would have earned tax revenue," said Velu.
Highway minister Edappadi K Palaniswami defended the government saying the projects have been delayed as the contractor Transtroy had financial problems. "The company could not complete the projects though more than 60% of the work had been completed," he said.
Velu blamed poor financial management for the revenue deficit. "Besides, the government has not spent the capital outlay which is used to add to government assets. While in the last five years, the AIADMK government spent only 74% of the capital outlay each year, under the DMK government, the outlay percentage was around 94%," said Velu.
Finance minister O Panneerselvam said the deficit in the revenue account was due to increasing expenditure on salaries and pension. The economic growth was also not up to expectations, due to which the tax revenue was lower than the target, said the minister.