RS polls, top officials’ selections may push Assembly session to July

Sources said that in the meeting between Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Wednesday, the Assembly dates were discussed and during the discussions Purohit had asked Palaniswami to conduct the sessions in July, after the elections to Rajya Sabha are completed.

The budget session of the state government ended in February and the next session on demand for grants was expected to be conducted after the elections for Lok Sabha ended. Similar to last year, the session was planned in first week of June, but later the session was unofficially postponed to third week of June.

The announcement of dates for Assembly session was expected immediately after the party meeting, held on Wednesday and as expected Palaniswami held meeting with Governor Purohit in the evening to finalise the Assembly dates. But, there was no announcement on the session dates.

AIADMK sources said that several other factors are also responsible for the postponement of Assembly dates. “Unexpected internal party feud on party leadership, the ongoing tussle for getting Rajya Sabha seats and the fight for getting ministry at the Centre are other reasons for Assembly dates getting postponed. All the problems are expected to be solved by the end of June and so the Assembly session has been planned in July,” the sources added.

Sources also said that the government has got a new problem in the appointment of Chief Secretary. As the existing Chief Secretary retires by the end of June, the government does not want to get involved in unwanted controversial situation by convening the Assembly.

With Union cabinet formation coming to a finality at the Centre, state ministers are racing against each other seeking Central funds for their respective department schemes.

A few of them had also kick-started works related to public welfare projects involving contractors. Local Administration Minister SP Velumani and Electricity Minister P Thangamani are the top two awaiting funds of more than Rs 15,000 crore to implement projectsin the state.

“With less than two years left for the AIADMK government, it is essential to get the maximum funds as a lot of sanctioned funds are delayed from the Centre,” an informed state official said.

According to informed Secretariat sources, the communications between the state and the Centre in this regard has been commissioned so that there is a steady flow of funds from the Centre.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami will also take part in the Niti Aayog meeting and is likely to insist the Centre on the sanction of more funds to Tamil Nadu, sources said.

The two senior state ministers had met four Union Ministers representing home, railways, water and sanitation and minorities welfare portfolios seeking funds for various projects. Municipal Administration Minister Velumani in his memorandums to Home Minister and Rural Development Minister had urged for the release of performance grant of Rs 560.15 crore for the year 2017-18 and the 2nd instalment of basic grant of Rs 1,608.03 crore for the year 2018-19 covering all rural and urban local bodies as per the 14 Central Finance Commission requirement.

Velumani also urged for sanction to 2 lakh houses under PMAY(G) special project for the Gaja affected districts and permit the state to sanction the houses to eligible affected beneficiaries irrespective of their community by relaxing the 60:40 (SC/ST: Others) ratio prescribed in the PMAY(G) Guidelines by the Ministry of RuralDevelopment.

Electricity Minister Thangamani had also stressed the need for expansion of airports requesting Airport Authority of India for revision of area to be acquired from 627.89 acres to 365 acres for extension of the runway at Coimbatore airport. The proposed desalination plants to benefit north Tamil Nadu covering Chennai, Villupuram and Cuddalore were also submitted seeking Rs 2,000 crores.

Velumani who also handles the water supply department had also briefed the Centre on the setting up of new pipelines using Cauvery as a source to help rural habitations in Sivaganga district. The project is designed for expected withdrawal of 78.40 MLD water at a cost of Rs 1,800 crore. For drought and summer mitigation funds to a tune of Rs 558 crore is also submitted with the Centre.

Central funds sought for Cyclone Gaja-hit are still pending and the summer mitigation funds are also awaited. Besides the sanctions for the smart city, Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission accorded projects and the expansion works for the airports in western districts covering Coimbatore and Salem are also pending.