Former Union Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram has criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent statement regarding the allocation of central funds to Tamil Nadu. PM Modi asserted that the central government allocated three times more funds for Tamil Nadu’s development over the past decade compared to the period before 2014.
Chidambaram responded by suggesting that such comparisons are misleading due to natural economic growth and inflation. He remarked, “Ask a first-year student of economics. She will tell you that the ‘economic metric’ will always be higher than in the previous years.” He emphasized that the GDP, central budget, and government expenditure naturally increase over time, and questioned whether the allocations had increased proportionally relative to GDP or total expenditure.
In response, BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya criticized Chidambaram, calling him a “self-styled oracle of selective economics,” and defended the government’s increased funding to Tamil Nadu.
This exchange highlights the ongoing debate between the central government and Tamil Nadu’s state leadership regarding the adequacy and fairness of fund allocations. While the central government cites increased absolute allocations, critics argue that these figures should be evaluated in the context of overall economic growth and as a proportion of total government expenditure.
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