“Jaya disrespects Budget process”

DMK General Secretary and former Finance Minister Prof. K. Anbazhagan charged Chief Minister Jayalalitha of disrespecting budget process of the State government by separately  announcing schemes and projects that were conventionally announced in the budget.
Addressing a public meeting in R.K.Nagar constituency in Chennai, Prof. Anbazhagan said ADMK regime’s Finance Minister O.Panneerselvam read out the budget statement on March 21 with full of reverential remarks about Jayalalitha and said she used to say that the propeller for her coming to politics was Swami Vivekananda’s quote “Arise, Awake, Stop not till the goal is achieved”. Perasiriyar ridiculed saying she got as propeller or by chance MGR to come to politics and not Vivekananda. Vivekananda said that for the society and possibly the FM quoted that in the Assembly to ask members not to sit in the House wasting their time and go out and do something useful, he ridiculed.
The budget statement had about ninety pages showing revenue surplus but fiscal deficit of Rs.22,938 crore. There was efficient Finance Secretary to make all these calculations. The budget contained all details of schemes/projects that the government proposed to launch in the ensuing financial year and allocation for each of them, giving details about receipts from the Centre and the loans advances proposed to be raised by the State government.
But after the budget was adopted by the Assembly, Jayalalitha announced on April 2 road development works for Rs.1100 to be carried out throughout the state which did not find place in the budget. On the same day she also announced housing scheme in Sholinganallur at a cost of Rs.612 crore and a water project in Perambalur district at a cost of Rs.108 crore. On April 5, she made another announcement of renovating a tank of the Fisheries department in Chetput at a cost of Rs.42 crore. “Wherefrom all these funds will come? Budget should contain all details about income and expenditure of the government. What is the meanig if she makes all these announcements outside of the budget? Is it to show that the CM is more important than the Finance Minister? Even if she is more important, is it proper to issue separate statements after the budget?” the former Finance Minster asked.
He said rule number 110 was meant for ministers to make absolutely essential announcements in the House. But misusing that rule they were announcing all these in the Budget session itself. If they were announced in the budget and in demands for grants they could be discussed by the members. But by making the budgetary announcements under this rule, the right of members to debate about them was curtailed. This practice amounted to disrespecting the budget process itself, he said adding this Assembly did not respect democracy.
Former MLA P.K.Sekar Babu had arranged the meeting in which DMK MLA Kovi.Chezhiyan, Deputy General Secretary Tmt.Sarguna Pandiyan and others also spoke.