In latest letter, TN CM MK Stalin asks 12 non-BJP CMs to demand loan moratorium for MSMEs

After uniting in the effort to get the Centre to procure COVID vaccines for the states, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin has now urged the CMs of various non-BJP ruled states to demand a moratorium on loan repayment for MSMEs and small businesses from the Centre. In a letter addressed to the CMs of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Jharkhand, Telangana, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Delhi, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan mad West Bengal, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin noted that the 'collective efforts' of the state leaders had led to the PM Modi-led Centre reportedly reversing its vaccine strategy and urged the states to come together to address the 'pressing issue of asymmetry in the treatment of MSME units and small borrowers during COVID. 

TN CM Stalin urges other CMs to unite to demand relief for MSMEs & small businesses

In his letter to the CMs of the non-BJP ruled states, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin claimed that a moratorium was offered on the repayment of loans for MSMEs and small borrowers during the nationwide lockdown imposed on the outbreak of COVID in 2020. He stated that no such relief was being provided to the borrowers during the curbs imposed by the states and said that he had taken up the matter with the Centre and had requested a moratorium to be provided. Further, CM Stalin stated that he would write to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and to RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das urging them to offer a moratorium on the repayment of loans for small borrowers with an outstanding of Rs 5 crore for at least the first two quarters of 2021-22.

"The absence of such relief measures would lead force many businesses to close and would lead to widespread economic distress. These MSMEs and small businesses are the mainstays of our economy and employment generation," Tamil Nadu CM Stalin wrote in his letter as he urged the other states' CMs to collectively work & take the matter up with the Centre.

TN CM Stalin responds on the centralisation of India's vaccine drive

Responding to PM Modi's announcement of a centralized COVID vaccination policy, TN CM MK Stalin on Monday welcomed the Centre's decision to provide vaccines to states free of cost. The DMK chief, while appreciating the Prime Minister for scrapping the decentralisation policy rolled out on May 1, made a pitch to ensure greater participation of the states in the immunization drive.  Highlighting Prime Minister's address to the Nation in which he 'stressed' that health is a state subject, the Tamil Nadu CM remarked that it would be 'appropriate' for each state to be given complete control of registration, validation and administration procedures of the vaccination. Stalin's pitch comes at a time when several states have been demanding a state-specific vaccine registration portal in place of the existing Co-WIN website.