Sent Rs 3 lakh crore to Tamil Nadu: PM refutes MK Stalin's claim on central funds

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday refuted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin's claim that the state was denied its rightful share of funds by the Centre, and said that Rs 3 lakh crore was disbursed to the south Indian state in the last 10 years, which was thrice as much as the UPA government released from 2004 to 2014.

The PM said that as many as 11 new medical colleges have also been set up in Tamil Nadu in the last 11 years with the Centre's help.

Notably, DMK chief Stalin has been continuously complaining about the Modi government not releasing enough funds for Tamil Nadu. After the Niti Aayog meeting in New Delhi in May, Stalin said that due to a few states not signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Education on the PM Shri scheme, the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan funding was denied. He said that specifically, for the year 2024-2025, nearly Rs 2,200 crore in Union funding was withheld from Tamil Nadu.

On Saturday, PM Modi addressed a public rally in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi, where he inaugurated infrastructural projects worth Rs 4,900 crore.

PM Modi reached Thoothukudi directly from the Maldives where he completed a two-day state visit and signed a number of key agreements with President Mohamed Muizzu.