TN to Centre: Give us money, else both of us will suffer in 2019

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has told the Centre that its refusal to part with funds for local bodies will cost the BJP and the AIADMK dear in the 2019 general elections.
This was the subject of the memorandum presented to minister of state for panchayat raj Parshottam Rupala by Tamil Nadu minister for municipal administration and water supply S P Velumani in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Velumani said the fund crunch situation had presented opposition parties with a chance to target the ruling AIADMK government. "The opposition parties, DMK and Congress, target the state and the Centre in this issue, both inside and outside the TN legislative assembly. (The non-release of funds) is being used by the opposition parties to create an image that the Centre is treating Tamil Nadu with a biased attitude and is not extending a supportive hand for genuine demands and rights. The strain in the maintenance of basic amenities (due to non-release of funds) is politically capitalised by opposition parties, mainly the DMK and Congress, to tarnish the Centre's image which will also create an adverse impact for both our governments in the ensuing parliamentary elections," Velumani's memorandum said.
Rural local bodies in Tamil Nadu are owed 50% of the total grant sanctioned under the 14th Central Finance Commission (CFC) for the 2017-18 fiscal (which works out to Rs 952.84 crore in basic and performance grants). While so, the Centre allocated Rs 1,975.07 crore as funds for the current fiscal too. At least 50% of this sum (Rs 987.54 crore) is also due for release to Tamil Nadu.
But on June 7, the Centre informed TN that the funds would only be provided if elections to village panchayats were held. Subsequently, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Niti Aayog summit on June 16. The memorandum implied that Modi had agreed to consider Palaniswami's request to release funds for Tamil Nadu.
Both urban and rural local bodies in Tamil Nadu have functioned without democratically elected councils since October 2016 when the Madras high court quashed the poll notification. Government-appointed special officers administer these local bodies at present.
In his memorandum, Velumani said without funds, village panchayats were unable to settle bills for development works. "...the non-release of basic grant from the Government of India has severely constrained the special officers in discharging their basic duties, which in turn has led to public hardship and suffering," the memorandum said.
Deploying semantics, Velumani told the Centre that nowhere in the 14th CFC's guidelines do it implicitly state that conduct of elections is mandatory for releasing funds. In paragraph 9.108, the CFC states that it cannot recommend grants to states which have not enacted laws for establishing duly elected panchayats and municipalities.
"Clearly the intention of the 14th CFC in using the term ‘duly constituted’ was to ensure that local body grants are provided only in cases where laws exist in the state for establishing duly elected panchayats/ municipalities. They have not indicated that the funds should be released only if elections have been held and an elected body is in place. It may be recalled that the first installment of basic grant for 2017-18 was released accepting the above arguments," the memorandum said.