Tamil Nadu's share higher than Union government's in funding for 6 Central schemes

The Hindu

13-06-2025

The Tamil Ndau government's contributes more monetarily compared to the Union government for the implementation of six Central schemes, according to a perusal of documents of the Central and State governments.
There are three schemes under the umbrella of the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) — Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS), Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS), and the Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme (IGNDPS). The remaining three schemes are the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)-Rural, Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), and the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
On Thursday, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, in his speech at a government event in Salem, referred to these schemes and said that with the contribution of the Union government, it was not possible to implement them, be it housing or water supply. 'Even in the case of the schemes named after the Prime Minister, the State government, by providing more than 50% [of the scheme cost], has been implementing them,' he observed.
Fully funded by the Centre, the NSAP was launched in August 1995. However, the State government has been a pioneer in this area and started implementing an old age pension scheme since January 1962. It extended the scope of the welfare measure to four categories of destitute persons — persons with disabilities, widows, agricultural labourers, and destitute or deserted women following marriage — between 1974 and 1984, all of which were subsumed into the all-India programme after November 2007.
In respect of the Old Age and Widow Pension schemes under the NSAP, the Union government's share is ₹200 or ₹300 for those up to 79 years and ₹500 for those aged 80 and above. It is the State government that provides the enhanced top-up — ₹1,000 or ₹900 or ₹ 700, as the case may be — so that the beneficiary eventually gets ₹1,200. As for the beneficiaries under the IGNDPS, they receive ₹1,500, of which ₹300 or ₹500 comes from the Centre, depending on the age group, while the rest is contributed by the State government. In addition, Tamil Nadu funds its own scheme for persons with disabilities, under which beneficiaries are paid ₹1,500.
Regarding the PMAY (Rural), the unit cost of a house is shared between Central and State governments in the ratio 60:40 in plain areas. As pointed out by the Chief Minister, the State government's share is perceptibly higher than that of the Centre. In the State, the unit cost of a house under PMAY-R is ₹2,83,900, which is inclusive of the State support cost for reinforced cement concrete (RCC) roofing and the convergence with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) for the purpose of the construction of toilet. Of this amount, the Union government's share is ₹1,11,100 and the State government's ₹1,72,800. Effectively, the ratio of cost sharing is 39:61.
As for PMMSY, which follows different funding patterns, 60% of the cost is to be borne by the Union government and the rest by the State. But, in practice, the Centre's share is 27% and the State's 73%. In the case of the JJM, the cost sharing is to be done equally between the two. But, when it comes to implementation, the State's contribution works out to 55%.