To assess Pandemic economy

Now, a panel to assess impact of pandemic on economy

C. Rangarajan, former RBI governor, to head committee

10/05/2020, T. RAMAKRISHNAN,CHENNAI

C. Rangarajan

The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday announced the formation of a 24-member committee, headed by former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India C. Rangarajan, to assess the immediate and medium-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on various sectors of the State’s economy.

This is the 16th committee formed by the government to tackle issues arising out of the pandemic. This also comes in the wake of Punjab forming a similar panel.

As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, there is one more reason for constituting the panel. During his reply in the Assembly to the debate on the State Budget in February, Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, who also holds the Finance portfolio, stated that a committee of experts would be set up to recommend measures to improve the tax-GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) ratio. Apart from this, the committee will give its findings on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the State government’s fiscal position and outline the way forward to improve the fiscal health, including increasing tax, diversifying revenue sources and re-prioritising expenditure.

The panel will also study the lockdown’s impact, additional costs and implications due to personal distancing and other precautionary measures; assess opportunities and threats in the short and medium terms and suggest measures required to help the important sectors of the economy overcome the adverse impact. Besides, it will identify fiscal issues and economic promotion measures required to be pursued by the State government with the Centre and possible sources of financing and funding for different sectors, including infrastructure projects and small businesses.

Non-official members

Former Chief Secretary N. Narayanan, who served as Finance Secretary for years under the chief ministership of M. Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa; vice chancellors of Madras and Agricultural University P. Duraisamy and N. Kumar; directors of Madras School of Economics and Madras Institute of Development Studies K. R. Shanmugam and P.G. Babu; three industrialists A. Vellayyan, former chairman of the Murugappa Group, N. Srinivasan, vice chairman and managing director of India Cements and Venu Srinivasan, chairman of TVS Motors; MD of Indian Bank Padmaja Chunduru; MD and CEO of Equitas Bank P.N. Vasudevan; public finance expert M. Govinda Rao; professor at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras M. Suresh Babu; and UNICEF coordinator in Chennai Pinaki Chakraborty are the non-official members of the panel, according to an order issued by the Finance Department.

While Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) S. Krishnan will serve as the coordinator of the committee, other representatives of the government are Principal Secretaries in charge of Industries, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Housing and Urban Development, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Handlooms, Handicrafts, Textiles and Khadi departments; Additional Chief Secretaries looking after Labour and Employment, Tourism and Culture departments and the Secretary of the Information Technology department. The committee has been asked to submit its final report to the government in three months, besides an interim report.