Opposition MPs raise Centre's discriminatory attitude towards southern states in Rajya Sabha

DMK MP Kanimozhi alleged that under the GST system, if Tamil Nadu pays Rs 1, it gets back only 29 paise whereas Uttar Pradesh gets Rs 2.73.

New Delhi: Alleging that the step motherly treatment meted out to the southern states by the NDA Government, the members of the opposition parties such as the Congress and the DMK in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday demanded the Centre to allocate more funds to these states also.

Participating in the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the president's address, Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury and DMK MP Kanimozhi NVN Somu argued that southern states are not only deprived of the financial support that they deserve but even the commitments made to two of them in Parliament has also been disrespected and disregarded.

While allocating funds in various sectors including railway, education and housing, the southern states are always being discriminated against because the ruling party doesn't have any presence there, the MPs alleged.

Pointing out the various promises made to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana before they split, Chowdhury said that both states were betrayed because promises such as setting up a steel plant and Central Tribal University among others made in Parliament haven't been kept by the NDA government for the past nine years.

DMK MP Kanimozhi said that the president in the address talked about serving the 140 crore people of this country, however, no scheme or fund was announced for Tamil Nadu treating the state in a step-motherly way.

Raising the major natural disasters such as the recent cyclones and floods that Tamil Nadu suffered with, Kanimozhi said that the state requested 45,000 crore for relief, however, the Centre has released only Rs 276 crore so far.

She alleged that under the GST system, if Tamil Nadu pays Rs 1, it gets back only 29 paise whereas Uttar Pradesh gets Rs 2.73.

Several opposition MPs appreciated their concerns in between their speeches by raising slogans in favour of the issues that they raised.