Exhuming the fiscal mismanagement and the flawed mechanism of the ten-year ADMK regime in generating the revenue to the state coffers, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan has on Monday released the 'White paper' on the state financial condition. The DMK had promised to release the White paper on the state finances during the assembly polls and it has been released four days ahead of the budget and nearly four months after MK Stalin assumed the Office of the Chief Minister.

The 'white paper', which is the first declaration in twenty years, was crafted in a fashion of giving more trouble to the previous ADMK regime and left the people frustrated for the possible surge in the taxes and services to increase the revenue. The white paper on finances would normally include the state's liabilities and the reasons for loss of revenue in various sectors. Ahead of the unveiling, Thiagarajan, while speaking to a news agency, said that the white paper would primarily be aimed at discussing the financial position of the state during the ten-year rule of the ADMK.

Usually, the White paper on certain issues will be released after the ruling government was demanded by the opposition parties to release it as a document of declaration. Tamil Nadu had seen the release of nine White papers so far and it was first released by the then Chief Minister MGR in 1977. While most of the White papers were for matters pertaining to the calamities and disasters like floods, only two, including the current one, were for the financial condition. Previously, the White paper on finances was released by the then Finance Minister Ponnaiyan in 2001, when J Jayalalithaa was the Chief Minister. 

After twenty years, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan had on Monday released the White paper on the finances with the keen concentration of the ADMK's ten-year rule. Unlike the typical one where there would be a player of demand, this White paper was wantonly released by the DMK without any furious demands in MK Stalin's bid to picturize to the Tamil Nadu people how the ADMK government left the state treasury with losses and debts while it stepped down from the reign. 

Highlights of the White paper of the state's financial condition: 

• The revenue deficit during the 2011-2016 ADMK rule was at Rs 17,000 crore and the same stood at Rs 1.50 lakh crore during the 2016-2021 regime. 
• The public debt is Rs 2,63,976 per family in Tamil Nadu and the Finance Minister has said that the fiscal deficit of the state has been primarily increasing due to an increase in government borrowing. 
• Tamil Nadu government is paying Rs 87.31 crore every day as the interest for the debts. The property tax remains intact for several years which had benefitted rich people and the state had acquired Rs 39,079 crore as an indirect debt in the past five years. 
• He noted that the state had faced an unimaginable rate of revenue deficit in the last five years and Tamil Nadu's financial condition had deprived to a state that the immediate expenses are to be met through acquiring debts. 
• Palanivel Thiagarajan said that Tamil Nadu has faced a severe revenue deficit than any other Indian state in the last five years and as the state's power to repay the debts had decreased, it has been pushed to witness the rise of interest rates.
• The credibility of the Electricity department in repaying the debts had declined, resulting in the surge in the interest rates. Tamil Nadu government had faced a loss of Rs 2,577 crore as the sequel of ADMK's failure in conducting timely polls for the local bodies. 
• The Union government is yet to release Rs 20,033 crore to Tamil Nadu as the state's dues in GST. The productional revenue during the DMK's rule in 2006-11 was at 13.89% and it has now been decreased to 4.65%.
• Though the ADMK claimed that it had spent on subsidies, there is no proper documentation of details about the beneficiaries of the subsidies. The fiscal deficit of the Tamil Nadu government currently stands at 92,000 crores and the government's total debt stands at Rs 5.70 lakh crore.
• The Electricity department alone has a debt of Rs 1.34 lakh crore and as the motor vehicle tax remains intact for the past 15 years, it also has contributed to losses. He hinted that this tax could be increased in the upcoming budget and added that the revenue for the state has heavily been deprived during the ADMK regime. 
• He said that a government bus is incurring a loss of Rs 59.57 per kilometre and noted that Rs 1 lakh crore was improperly spent during the ADMK regime. 
• He cited that there was revenue surplus in the state during DMK's rule in 2006-11 and affirmed that the DMK government will now fix the financial glitches and flaws that prevailed during the previous rule.
• Public Debt as a percentage of GSDP is 26.69 per cent, which is above the allowed limit of 25 per cent. The outstanding debt of the Tamil Nadu government stands at Rs 4,85,503 crore till now and the state's own tax revenue had registered a decline. 
• Commercial taxes, the main component of the state's own tax revenue was on a decreasing trend even before the GST was introduced. The White paper has also revealed that the Revenue deficit of Tamil Nadu has been getting worsened for the last eight years, which had largely affected the development investments. 
• It has further said that demonetization, the hasty introduction of GST, and the stagnation of economic activities due to the Covid-19 pandemic have further plummetted the growth and all these factors had led to the poor growth and lack of fiscal discipline. 
• The Finance Minister noted that the revenue for the state had started to decrease even before the Covid-19 lockdown period. He said that the state must drive on the path of development by collecting proper taxes and asked how the government can function without taxes. He also said that the zero tax budget will be useless. 

As he has revealed the alarming state of Tami Nadu's financial condition, he has hinted about the rise of taxes and costs of services including electricity charges and bus fares. Thiagarajan said that the white paper was crafted with the support of many people and asserted that he will bear the responsibility if any discrepancy is found. He added that the white paper on finances was produced after reviewing similar documents that were released by Andhra Pradesh and Punjab earlier.

He affirmed that the DMK government will now fix the financial glitches and flaws that prevailed during the previous rule. Apart from the motive of letting the people know the state's financial condition, one of the important motives of this white paper is to put more pressure on ADMK and of course, seeking more time from the people to fulfil the promises the DMK had made during the polls by citing the worst financial condition. Earlier, in an interview with a news agency, Thiagarajan said that there were multiple reasons the government has decided to bring out a white paper and the primary reason is the lack of transparency in Tamil Nadu's finances under the previous ADMK regime.