Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], May 21 (ANI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday said that he will attend NITI Aayog's Governing Council meeting on May 24 and will demand 'fair financial rights' for his State.

The Chief Minister also asked why All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami was pained by this, adding that he will keep on fighting to get a fair financial share from the Centre to his State.

'I am going to Delhi on the 24th to express to the NITI Aayog for fair financial rights for Tamil Nadu at the meeting!' Stalin said in a post on X in Tamil.

'Why does this pain the Leader of the Opposition, Palaniswami, who has kept his habit of keeping his feet under the table?' he added.

Saying that he will always carry the flag of freedom, the Chief Minister said,'I will always carry the flag of freedom! I will not crawl away! Even today, I have filed a case in the Supreme Court for the rights of Tamil Nadu. I will stand firm on my policy! I will fight to get funds for Tamil Nadu.'

https://x.com/mkstalin/status/1925097063450362035

Earlier, the Tamil Nadu government filed a plea in the Supreme Court over the alleged non-disbursal of around 2200 crores by the Central government to the State, over the latter's decision not to implement the National Education Policy (NEP).

In its plea, the Tamil Nadu government has sought the Court to declare that the National Education Policy, 2020, and the PM SHRI Schools Scheme are not binding on the State unless a formal agreement is entered into with the Union Government.

The State government has further argued that its entitlement to funds under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme has been unlawfully made conditional on the implementation of these central schemes, which it considers to be unconstitutional, arbitrary, and illegal.

'The glaring reason for such non-disbursement is that the Defendant has linked the release of Samagra Shiksha Scheme funds with the implementation of 'National Education Policy' and 'NEP exemplary PM SHRI Schools' Scheme, despite the fact that this policy / scheme are separate schemes. That the reason of such apparent linkage is the fact that the MoU pertaining to the PM SHRI Schools Scheme dictates for implementation of the NEP-2020 in the Plaintiff State (Tamil Nadu) in its entirety which is not agreeable to the Plaintiff State due to the vociferous opposition to the Clause 4.13 of the NEP-2020 which envisages three-language formula', the plea reads.

The State government is thus demanding the release of Rs2,291.30 crore from the Centre, along with 6% annual interest on the principal sum of Rs2,151.59 crore from 1 May 2025 until full payment is made. (ANI)