The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) has criticised the Modi-led Central government of being “double tongued” while commenting on the economy of the country.

In a press release issued by TNCC, the Congress party said that the Centre declared in the Madras High Court that they cannot evacuate Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) free of cost due to financial constraints while “they continue to say that the economy is strong in the parliament”.

The TNCC had filed a petition in the Madras High Court to safely evacuate NRI residing in Maldives and bring them back to India free of cost. Responding to this, the Central government filed a counter affidavit on the matter at the Madras High Court on May 8.

In the counter affidavit, the Central government said, “Given the large number of people expected to return from various countries and the economic situation of the country, it is not possible for the government of India to facilitate the return of Indians free of cost.”

The Congress government, condemning the counter filed by the Centre, asked, “The PM Modi led BJP government has said that the economy is worse in the Madras HC but why should the same government in the Parliament and media make a false claim that the economy is strong through Nirmala Sitharaman?”

Meanwhile, the Central government has released the second instalment of the state's share of revenue deficit grant amounting to over Rs 6,000 crore. The largest share of the maximum grant-in-aid of Rs 1,277 crore for May has gone to Kerala, followed by Himachal Pradesh with revenue deficit grant of Rs 953 crore.

The grant has been released to 14 states including Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Punjab, Sikkim and other north-eastern Indian states. 

The money is expected to be used by states towards paying salaries to government employees as a sharp fall in tax collections in April has already put pressure on their accounts.