Loaded with doles and freebies to woo the electorate ahead of the April 6 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, archrivals DMK and AIADMK s populist agenda driven election manifesto are also being debated for the financial implications on a state already burdened with high debts. With late DMK chief M Karunanidhi s hero manifesto of 2006 that promised among others, free colour TV sets, virtually setting the trend for similar races in the future, Tamil Nadu has seen it all - free laptops, milch cows, mixer-grinder and gold for thali (mangal sutra) among others. In 2021 too, the Dravidian majors chose to dish out a slew of promises that carry the free of cost tag, a more politically correct term used to describe freebies by the proponents of such largesse.
Freebies to jobs: How the AIADMK and DMK are trying to woo voters
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Tamil Nadu | AIADMK, DMK s shower of freebies; experts flag financial implications, parties says it s doable
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Taxes from alcohol, petroleum products, vehicle registrations can be tweaked
The interim Budget for 2021-22 announced by the Tamil Nadu government bore the scars of the Covid-19 pandemic – contraction in revenue, expenditure mounting due to Covid-related spending and expanding fiscal deficit. According to revised estimates for FY21, the State fiscal deficit is expected to widen to ₹96,889.97 crore amounting to 4.99 per cent of the GSDP. While the budgeted deficit for FY22 is lower at ₹84,202.39 crore, it still amounts to 3.94 per cent of GSDP.
However, Tamil Nadu is not a stranger to such dire fiscal situations. It has struggled to match a contracting revenue stream with mounting expenditure, exacerbated by political doles, in the past too. The State’s borrowing due to deficits recorded over the years has resulted in taking the outstanding debt as on March 31, 2021 to ₹4,85,502.54 crore.