7 months ago
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The Tamil Nadu Assembly connected Friday “rejected” Governor R.N. Ravi’s position connected the request for the House to reconsider the Tamil Nadu Fiscal Responsibility (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which was passed connected February 22, 2024, but returned by the Raj Bhavan.
Speaker M. Appavu read retired Mr. Ravi’s letter, dated August 25, 2025, which had listed the reasons for returning the Bill. The House readopted the Bill.
In a missive to the Speaker, Mr. Ravi said, “The Bill seeks to postpone the accomplishment of zero gross shortage and 3% fiscal shortage by different twelvemonth (now targeting 2026-27 and 31st March 2026 respectively), going beyond the play specified by the Fifteenth Finance Commission, which acceptable targets for 2021-22 to 2025-26.”
‘Room for caller govt.’
He further wrote, “The adjacent wide predetermination to the Tamil Nadu Assembly is scheduled to beryllium held successful little than a twelvemonth from now. The projected amendment volition straight run beyond the tenure of the contiguous and into the tenure of the incoming government, efficaciously binding its fiscal argumentation choices successful its precise archetypal twelvemonth of bureau and besides being beyond the recommended play of the Fifteenth Finance Commission. In a parliamentary democracy, it is simply a well-recognised normal that large argumentation decisions by mode of statutory change, particularly successful the sphere of semipermanent fiscal policy, are ordinarily avoided successful the contiguous pre-election play unless determination is simply a compelling necessity. This is to guarantee that the recently elected authorities has the autonomy to find its ain fiscal model successful presumption of the caller mandate from the people.”
The Governor said, “The archetypal targets nether the Tamil Nadu Fiscal Responsibility Act were enacted successful alignment with the nationalist model for fiscal subject nether the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, 2003, and successive Finance Commission recommendations.” But the amendment projected efficaciously altered the roadmap agreed with the Commission. “This tin endanger semipermanent fiscal sustainability and compliance with the targets outlined by law bodies similar the Finance Commission and perchance undermine the credibility of the State’s fiscal management,” helium said.
“Fiscal work laws are meant to beryllium binding, and exceptions are usually made lone successful bonzer situations (natural disasters, terrible economical crises, etc.) by the elected government. Such repeated extensions would dilute statutory commitments to fiscal discipline, postponing the targets particularly beyond the Fifteenth Finance Commission play and beyond the word of the contiguous government,” Mr. Ravi said.
Thennarasu’s take
Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, however, said Tamil Nadu was a pioneer successful ensuring that a instrumentality was passed to guarantee fiscal responsibility. “Even successful the twelvemonth this Act was passed, we tin spot that argumentation goals were acceptable beyond its term. Successive governments person upheld fiscal work adjacent portion changing the developmental and economical goals. In the past, amendments to the Tamil Nadu Fiscal Responsibility Act were made earlier the predetermination year,” helium said.
“Enacting authorities is simply a continuous process. The authorities that is being enacted indispensable instrumentality into relationship — irrespective of the authorities — fiscal situation, continuation of argumentation decisions, and semipermanent societal and economical goals. It doesn’t extremity with 1 word of a government,” helium said.
DMK MLA Ezhilan Naganthan, VCK MLA S.S. Balaji, CPI MLA T. Ramachandran, CPI(M) MLA Nagaimaali, and legislators T. Velmurugan, and E.R. Easwaran also criticised the Governor’s observations.
