Chennai: Ahead of the Tamilnadu Budget which is to be tabled in the Assembly tomorrow, Consortium of Indian Associations has made a set of suggestions to Finance Minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan.
In a letter to the Minister, a copy of which was released to the media, CIA convenor K E Raghunathan said, “For free 100 units power consumption – eligibility is those who are getting usage of less than 500 units a month.”
He said free money, dhoties, sarees and other government aids to ration card holders should be restricted to rice card holders only.
For transport sector, he said, “any increase in the fare will be impossible to bear and will also be difficult to differentiate the users. Increase point to point services in Chennai with higher tariffs. Introduce AC vehicles for higher costs.”
On water tax, he said “install a water meter and charge as per water consumed and as per slabs – as against fixed charges currently.” The CIA has also made suggestions on property tax and petrol/diesel tax.