Language row: Tamil Nadu govt compensates for Rs 2,152 cr withheld by Centre through exchequer money

Chennai: Asserting that the state’s two-language policy will never be altered, the Tamil Nadu Budget for the financial year 2025-2026 on Friday allotted funds from its exchequer to compensate for Rs 2,152 crore withheld by the Union Government under the Samagra Shiksha (SS) scheme for refusing to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Presenting the last full-fledged Budget of the DMK regime, Finance Minister Thangam Thenarasu articulated the state government’s position that there was no way that the three-language formula proposed by the NEP will be implemented even if it meant forgoing the funds due from the Union Government.

By making a political statement through the Budget exercise, which flaunted the rich Tamil culture and traditions, the M K Stalin-led government has emphasised that it won’t back down on key issues like language, which still evokes emotion and gains huge traction among the people.

The annual financial document, keeping in mind the crucial 2026 assembly polls, was populist to the core, though Thenarasu seemed to have struck a fine balance by focussing on building long-term infrastructure for the state, including building metro networks, elevated corridors, and flyovers, and conducting feasibility studies to set up semi-high speed train systems.

“By unflinchingly following the bilingual policy, Tamil Nadu not only preserved the Tamil culture but also empowered its youth with English proficiency, to rise with strength on the global stage with their unquenchable thirst for knowledge and success,” Thennarasu said, before launching a frontal attack on the Union Government.

Accusing the Centre of withholding the approved amount of Rs 2,152 crore to Tamil Nadu, citing its non-acceptance of the NEP, Thenarasu said the state Government has allocated funds, including salaries of teachers, from its own resources to ensure that the education of Government school students remains unaffected, even in the slightest way.

“Even at this critical juncture, the people of Tamil Nadu have rallied behind the Hon’ble Chief Minister for upholding the dignity of the State by standing firm on the bilingual policy, even at the cost of foregoing Rs 2,000 crore,” he said.

Thenarasu also quoted powerful verses of Tamil poet Bharathidasan whose translation is “any opposition to a Tamil who works for the betterment of Tamil community will eventually crumble and fail even if it is a mighty mountain” to drive home his point that there was no re-look at their opposition to the three-language formula.

Unveiling plans to spend Rs 4.39 lakh crore, the Budget focussed on women, students, elderly, and transgender persons, and those living in the hinterland by promising to lay quality roads at an estimated length of 6,100 km, build an additional 1 lakh houses in rural areas, and reconstruction of dilapidated houses.

As many as 20 lakh college students across the state from all streams will be provided with a laptop or tablet based on their preference in the next two years, in what is seen as another populist measure to tap into the young voting bloc, though this was a promise made before the 2021 polls.

Other significant social sector announcements are financial assistance of Rs 2,000 per month to children who have lost both parents till they turn 18, day care centers for senior citizens in 25 locations at a cost of Rs 10 crore, working women hostels and girl students hostels at a cost of Rs 350 crore.

The government also announced that it will administer HPV vaccination to all girls above the age of 14 to prevent cervical cancer and completely eradicate the disease in Tamil Nadu.

The popular breakfast scheme will be expanded to benefit an additional 3.14 lakh students enrolled in government-aided schools in urban areas, while the number of beneficiaries of the Rs 1,000 monthly assistance to government school students who enrol in UG courses will witness an increase from this year.

The spending on social sectors will witness a massive increase even as concerns over fiscal sustainability mounted with the state’s debt set to reach Rs 9.3 lakh crore by March 2026, which is 26.07 per cent of the state’s GSDP. Thenarasu said the fiscal deficit is estimated to be 3 percent of the GSDP even as he expressed the confidence that the revenue deficit will reduce to Rs 31,282 crore in 2026-27 and to Rs 18,026 crore in 2027-28.

The budget showed the state’s own tax revenue is estimated to grow 14.6 per cent in 2025-26, with major collections expected from commercial taxes (Rs 1.63 lakh crore), stamps and registration (Rs 26,109 crore), motor vehicle taxes (Rs 13,441 crore), and excise (Rs 12,944 crore).

The budget also announced a one-per cent reduction in property registration fees for assets valued up to Rs 10 lakh if it was made in the name of women, even as it unveiled an scheme offering bank loans of up to Rs 10 lakh with a 20 per cent subsidy to create one lakh women entrepreneurs over the next five years.

The budget also allotted Rs 9,335 crore for extension of the Metro network from Chennai Airport to Kilambakkam, Rs 9,744 crore for Koyambedu-Pattabiram, and Rs 8,779 crore to connect Poonamallee with Sriperumbudur via the new age transport system, even as it reiterated that the greenfield airport for Chennai will be built in Parandur despite protests.