State’s finances in poor shape, says MDMK chief

Vaiko blames poor administration, failure to release funds.

Contending that the “pathetic condition” of the State-owned transport corporations in Tamil Nadu had raised a question mark over their future, general secretary of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) Vaiko on Monday said the performance of other State government departments would also come to light, if a proper review is carried out.

In a statement, Mr. Vaiko said he was shocked by the revelations that the assets of three State-owned transport corporations had been mortgaged, adding that it bore testimony to the degeneration of administration of transport corporations in the State.

“Corruption has taken deep roots when it comes to buying new buses and spare parts. When compared to the 47 State-owned transport corporations in the country, Tamil Nadu offers more services, but inefficiency is posing a challenge to the future of the transport corporations and their employees,” he said.

Citing reports related to the performance of transport corporations, Mr. Vaiko said Tamil Nadu held the dubious distinction of being second only to Bihar in the operation of outdated buses. He said 78.3% of the buses run by the State Express Transport Corporation was outdated, as was 72.71% of buses operated by the Metropolitan Transport Corporation.

“Poor administration, failure on the part of the State government in releasing funds, debt burden and failure to settle PF, pension fund and leave salary had forced the workers to launch protests. The government refuses to release funds, as promised during the talks,” he alleged.

Mr. Vaiko claimed that the financial health of not just the transport corporations but the entire State government was in the doldrums. “The government should take immediate steps to rescue the State from the financial crisis,” he said.

Newsletter

Prime Minister Modi inaugurates Atal Tunnel - longest tunnel above 10000 ft

Ladakh: The Prime Minister today inaugurated the Atal Tunnel and took the inaugural drive through in the 9km long tunnel...

Orissa High Court Order regarding migrant workers entry into Orissa put on hold by the Supreme Court

The Orissa High Court order to permit the entry of migrant workers only if they tested Negative for COVID-19 was put on...

Coronavirus Lockdown - First Flights To Bring Back Indians Stranded Abroad Land In Kerala

On Monday, the central government announced plans to begin a massive repatriation of its citizens stranded abroad, dubbe...

Reacting to Trump's retaliation threat India allows Hydroxychloroquine export

In a move after Trump's threat to retaliate if India fails to send medicines, India has lifted ban of export of ess...

All Domestic Passenger Flights Suspended from Midnight Tomorrow

The operations of all domestic schedule commercial airlines will stop operations from 23.59pm on March 24, a government...

Iran says it ‘unintentionally’ shot down Ukrainian plane, blames ‘human error’

Iran had denied for several days that a missile downed the aircraft. But then the US and Canada, citing intelligence, sa...