Monday, August 29 2005 19:02 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: Taking a dig at her opponents, especially the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today (Aug 29, 2005) said that the state had achieved a major fiscal recovery and put the finances in order now, though 'many learned commentators' had written off the state in 2001.

"It is ironic that those who lamented that the fiscal compression we faced was severely affecting the poor are now crying hoarse that my government is blithely granting new concessions every day to benefit the poor, thus affecting the state's finances", she said.

"The hollowness of their earlier pretended pro-poor stand has been thoroughly exposed", the Chief Minister said in her address at the National Executive Committee meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (FICCI) in Chenai today.

Without naming the parties, she said unfortunately for them, it was also a cause of 'severe heartburn' as to how this 'modern miracle' had been achieved in Tamil Nadu, the most proactive state in providing a social safety net for the poor.

"It is a question of achieving the right balance in public expenditure and we have made the necessary structural adjustment with hardly any mal-effects on the poor and the under-privileged", she said adding this was possible because her Government had put a 'fiscal responsibility legislation' in place and provided a platform for growth with equity.