TN expresses reservations over Cash Transfer scheme

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu today expressed "serious reservations" about the Centre's Cash Transfer scheme and asked the UPA government to "think beyond administrative convenience."

Finance Minister O Panneerselvam said cash distribution would "effectively amount to escaping from public responsibility."

In his address at the pre-Budget meeting at New Delhi headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Panneerselvam said the state government appreciated that existing schemes involving cash disbursement, like Old Age Pension and Student Scholarships, can be streamlined and the possibilities of leakages could be minimised by Direct Cash Transfer.

"However, for schemes with wider socio-economic objectives like Public Distribution System, mere cash distribution would effectively amount to escaping from public responsibility. I urge the Union Finance Minister to think beyond administrative convenience and appreciate the realities of entitlements and access at the grass root level," he said.

The text of the Finance Minister's speech was released by the state government here.