Chennai, June 17 -- Senior leader of the Oppposition DMK and former Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu on Wednesday strongly criticised the white paper presented by the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), questioning its projections on state finances, debt levels, and welfare expenditure commitments.
Releasing the white paper yesterday evening, Finance Minister Marie Wilson blamed the previous DMK government of MK Stalin for landing Tamil Nadu in a vicious debt trap with the state's borrowing doubling up in the last five years, taking the cumulative debt burden touching Rs 13.18 lakh crore.
"Direct debt of the state had doubled to nearly Rs 10 lakh crore in the last five years. Together with off-budget borrowings and government guaran...