Friday, June 2, 2023
  • Login
The South First
  • Home
  • States
    • Andhra Pradesh
    • Karnataka
    • Kerala
    • Tamil Nadu
    • Telangana
  • Politics
    • Behind the News
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Health
  • Videos
  • Karnataka Elections 2023
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • States
    • Andhra Pradesh
    • Karnataka
    • Kerala
    • Tamil Nadu
    • Telangana
  • Politics
    • Behind the News
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Health
  • Videos
  • Karnataka Elections 2023
No Result
View All Result
The South First
No Result
View All Result

Home » Dakshin Dialogues » Centrally-sponsored schemes: Boon or bane for states? ‘Dakshin Diaolgues’ panelists debate

Centrally-sponsored schemes: Boon or bane for states? ‘Dakshin Diaolgues’ panelists debate

PTR and KTR argued that under the current regime, these schemes are means to promote the "cult” of one individual

Shilpa NairbyShilpa Nair
Published:19/09/2022 7:57 am
A A
Dakshin Dialogues 2022 Panel 3

From left: Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao, Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor, Centre for Policy Research President and Chief Executive Yamini Aiyar, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, and Andhra Pradesh Pradesh Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy. (South First)

One of the key topics of discussion and debate at the first edition of the annual ‘Dakshin Dialogues’ — a thought platform for political, legal and civil society voices from South India, hosted by the South First on 17 September, was the centrally-sponsored schemes and their role in a federal polity.

Telangana IT minister KT Rama Rao (KTR), Tamil Nadu finance minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (PTR), Andhra Pradesh finance minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy, and former under-secretary-general of the United Nations and Congress MP from Kerala Shashi Tharoor talked extensively about the subject during one of the sessions moderated by Yamini Aiyar, president and chief executive of the Centre for Policy Research.

PTR: Why have centrally-sponsored schemes?

“I’m not even clear why we should have centrally-sponsored schemes as opposed to giving the money to the people,” Tamil Nadu Finance Minister PTR said when Aiyar asked the political bigwigs about their views on the schemes funded by the Centre.

PTR opposed the schemes predominantly on the grounds that the Union Government dictated to the states on how to implement them while turning a blind eye to the ground realities.

“Why should there be a standardised model coming from Delhi on the last-mile delivery of these schemes? Different people have different preferences. That’s what the state exists for. That’s what the local bodies exist for,” he said.

PTR cited various examples to underline his point. For instance, in the case of Union government’s “Swachh Bharat Mission”, which is also a pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he quoted the reports of the Comptroller Auditor General as saying that, in several places, toilets were built without water because the Union government cannot supply water, only the local bodies can.

PTR
Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan. (South First)

On the “Jal Jeevan” scheme — to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India — he pointed out: “The Union government incentivises you to take a tap into every household in every village. In a lot of cases, the villagers don’t want a tap inside their house. They have their own psychology about it. They want a public tap on their street. In my constituency, when I offered them taps inside their house, they asked me to leave it outside their house. But the scheme says you will get funding only if you take the taps inside the house.”

These instances, according to PTR, proved that there is no reason for a one-size-fits-all aggregated model coming from the Centre.

While pointing out that there is no Constitutional carve-out that there should be centrally sponsored schemes, he termed the Centre’s attitude on these schemes as “dictatorial to suit their political needs, as opposed to the needs of the people”.

KTR: ‘Don’t thrust schemes, allow flexibility’

While stating that he didn’t have a problem with the schemes funded by the Centre, KTR said that the problem arises when it is thrust upon states without allowing any room for flexibility.

Using the example of the MNREGA scheme — that guarantees the right to work for citizens in rural areas — the IT minister of Telangana said that each state would have a different priority in terms of the work that needs to be undertaken.

Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao (15)
Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao. (South First)

“The Centre wants to deposit funds directly from the NREGA kitty into the accounts of the workers in a village. Now, do the states not get to decide what kind of work needs to be taken up? Kerala may have done some things; Telangana may have done some things; Tamil Nadu would want to do something else, and Andhra might want to do something else. We are all on different stages of the learning curve,” he said.

Emphasising on the need for flexibility, KTR added: “When we are operating with a focus, when we are trying to up our game, all the Union government needs to do is encourage performance and leave it to us to decide what centrally-sponsored scheme we should participate in and what we can opt out of. That sort of flexibility must be given as opposed to thrusting things down our throat.”

Another concerning aspect of these schemes sponsored by the Centre either fully or partially, according to KTR, is the “attitude of those who run Delhi” who think they are the givers and the states are the takers when “southern states, with a population of 19 percent, contribute about 35 percent of the country’s GDP”.

Centrally-sponsored schemes promoting a cult?

Both PTR and KTR converged on the view that under the BJP-led Union government, centrally-sponsored schemes have become means to promote “the cult” of one individual: Prime Minister Modi.

Recalling the recent incident where Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pulled up a district collector for not putting up photos of Modi at a ration shop in Beerkur in Kamareddy district of Telangana, KTR wondered why fights are erupting over putting up pictures of one individual in the institutions that are built at the grassroot level if we are a truly federal country?

According to him, the Union finance minister “created a scene like a street-level BJP worker”, which was “funny, embarrassing and upsetting”.

“If the Union finance minister has her way, the new currency notes would also have the Prime Minister’s image, possibly they will even replace Mahatma Gandhi’s image,” he quipped while talking about the controversy.

He also countered the incident by asking if Prime Minister Modi, when he was the chief minister of Gujarat, put up pictures of then prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh in fair price shops in the state.

Echoing similar views, PTR wondered about the intent behind the Centre is dictating terms to states with respect to implementing centrally-sponsored schemes. “Is it to create a kind of a cult?” he asked.

Taking the example of Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme, he said: “We have an insurance programme. For that matter, even the public distribution system. In all of these things, Tamil Nadu was certainly ahead of the Indian average or the design of the Union scheme. Then they design a scheme and ask us to change the name if some share of the scheme has to be funded by the Union. In the insurance scheme, they want to partly fund it. But they want us to put the prime minister’s image on the ID card.”

Reddy: States must be given more autonomy under CSDS

Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Buganna Rajendranath Reddy opined that the states must be given “little more autonomy in the case of Centralised State Development Scheme” which is partly funded by the Centre, with contributions from states.

The Minister also mentioned the overlapping of duties among various bodies while imparting their responsibilities assigned by the Constitution. (South First)
The Minister also mentioned the overlapping of duties among various bodies while imparting their responsibilities assigned by the Constitution. (South First)

“There are state-specific needs. So, states must be given little more autonomy in designing the schemes under CSDS so that they are more suitable for their requirements,” he said.

“In a democracy, I believe, it is the elected representative who should have the supreme power… Anybody who is elected by the public has a far better understanding of the needs of the public than anyone else in the system,” Reddy also noted.

However, on the topic of the centrally-sponsored schemes being used as a platform to promote the Centre or the prime minister, he opined: “When the Centre is spending money for public, if state wants to have its own emblem or their own mark, so also we should allow the Centre do it.”

Recommended For You

Supreme Court
News

SC stays Madras HC order staying JSC proceedings on amendment to Forest (Conservation) Act

June 2, 2023
Telangana Formation Day celebration
News

KCR taps into nostalgia, pride as he kicks off 21-day decennial celebrations of Telangana Formation Day

June 2, 2023
On Monday, 29 May the Warangal Police busted an 18-member gang suspected of engaging in unlawful prenatal sex-determination tests and performing over 100 abortions. (Creative Commons)
Health

Skewed sex ratio: Here’s how authorities nabbed gang involved in sex-determination and abortions in Warangal

June 2, 2023
Forensic experts inspecting the scene on Thursday. The building was completely destroyed in the blast that killed three people and injured six others. (Supplied)
Tamil Nadu

Firecracker unit blast kills three in Salem, six others critical — third such incident since 1 March

June 2, 2023
Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao in an exclusive interview with South First's Chetana Belagere. (Screengrab/South First)
Health

Exclusive: Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao opposes PPP model, vows to strengthen public hospitals

June 2, 2023
The Board's move would strengthen the railways infrastructure in the two Telugu states. (Deeksha Devadiga/South First)
Andhra Pradesh

Railway Board to conduct survey for laying of lines to operate super-fast trains in AP, Telangana

June 2, 2023

Top Stories

Telangana Formation Day celebration

KCR taps into nostalgia, pride as he kicks off 21-day decennial celebrations of Telangana Formation Day

June 2, 2023
On Monday, 29 May the Warangal Police busted an 18-member gang suspected of engaging in unlawful prenatal sex-determination tests and performing over 100 abortions. (Creative Commons)

Skewed sex ratio: Here’s how authorities nabbed gang involved in sex-determination and abortions in Warangal

June 2, 2023
Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao in an exclusive interview with South First's Chetana Belagere. (Screengrab/South First)

Exclusive: Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao opposes PPP model, vows to strengthen public hospitals

June 2, 2023

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Subscribe to our mailing list to receive daily updates direct to your inbox.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Like and Follow

Follow @TheSouthfirst

Latest

Supreme Court

SC stays Madras HC order staying JSC proceedings on amendment to Forest (Conservation) Act

June 2, 2023
Ilayaraaja, Mani Ratnam.

Birthday wishes pour in for music maestro Ilaiyaraaja, ace director Mani Ratnam

June 2, 2023
Yadha Yadha Hi movie

Yadha Yadha Hi review: A not so impressive remake of Telugu film ‘Evaru’

June 2, 2023
The South First

CATEGORIES

  • News
  • Opinion & Analysis
  • Entertainment & Culture
  • Featured
  • Health & Wellness
  • Andhra Pradesh
  • Karnataka
  • Kerala
  • Tamil Nadu
  • Telangana

PAGES

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

© 2023 The South First

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • States
    • Andhra Pradesh
    • Karnataka
    • Kerala
    • Tamil Nadu
    • Telangana
  • Politics
    • Behind the News
  • Entertainment & Culture
  • Opinion & Analysis
  • Health & Wellness
  • Karnataka Elections 2023
  • Dakshin Dialogues
  • Videos

© 2023 The South First

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our