Govt against abandoning social security programmes: Karunanidhi

 CHENNAI: On the eve of the Governor’s address to the Assembly spelling out the new regime’s policies, former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Thursday cautioned the government against abandoning social security programmes such as the health insurance scheme introduced by him.


“If any government ignores such social security schemes and concentrates only on development schemes, it will lead to the neglect of the interests of the poor and the weak,” Mr. Karunanidhi said, writing for his party daily, Murasoli.

‘Will the AIADMK government continue to implement the health insurance scheme, through which 2.62 lakh poor people availed of advanced treatment, and the ‘108′ ambulance scheme with the same vigour? Or, will they be put on hold like the new Secretariat complex or the uniform system of education?” Mr. Karunanidhi wondered.

Arguing that the latest scheme of distributing 20 kg of rice free of cost, introduced by the Jayalalithaa government, was only an extension of his government’s policy of selling rice initially at Rs.2 per kg and then at Re.1, the DMK president said it was such social safety schemes implemented by his regime that had ensured food security for the poor and led to a situation in which there were no starvation deaths in Tamil Nadu. His regime had spent Rs.4,000 crore on food subsidy.

Further, his government’s decision to extend free education to first-generation students admitted to professional courses that led to a substantial increase in admissions in professional colleges and polytechnics – from 2.85 lakh students in 2005-06 to 6.90 lakh in 2010-11.

Free colour television sets and gas stoves were among other schemes introduced by the DMK regime for the uplift of the poor, but some had termed them ‘freebies’ and argued that these were detrimental to economic growth. “However, considering the fact that the same critics are now coming forward to implement such schemes, the beneficiaries will, hopefully, notice that it is the DMK government’s programme that is being continued,” he said.

Dismissing criticism that his government had borrowed heavily to meet its ‘freebies’ expenditure, Mr. Karunanidhi said that on the contrary, his regime’s borrowings were mainly for meeting capital expenditure.

Referring to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s remarks that the DMK regime had left behind a debt burden of more than Rs.1 lakh crore and that the financial position had to be set right soon, he said he was hoping that Finance Department officials would have given her a suitable explanation. His government’s borrowings were well within fiscal norms set out by the Centre.

The State’s debt at the end of 2010-11 amounted only to 19.58 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product, well below the 25 per cent upper limit fixed by the Centre. “The DMK government was quite responsible in its borrowings and much of the money was spent on capital expenditure.”