The Hindu : Front Page : An enduring symbol of responsive governance

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Monday, May 18, 2009
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An enduring symbol of responsive governance

The LDF government in Kerala is taking steps to revitalise the economy of the State in the wake of the global economic downturn

Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala, headed by elderly statesman V.S. Achuthanandan, is completing three years in office during very difficult times, both domestically and internationally.

Kerala and the rest of the country are experiencing the adverse consequences of the global economic crisis. The shrinkage in the Indian and global economies are beginning to tell on the State’s economy as well. More people are losing jobs within the country and in the Malayali-dominated Gulf countries. Markets for Kerala’s products across the globe are showing signs of fatigue, owing to a sharp fall in purchasing capacities.

It goes to the credit of the LDF government in Kerala that it was the first to wake up to the emerging global reality and come up with measures to help rev up the State economy and provide succour to those getting uprooted from their work places in the Gulf. Simultaneously, the government has also announced a series of programmes to help the lowest end of the State’s population who cannot afford even one square meal a day. These measures have forced even the worst critics of the government to acknowledge its responsiveness to human crisis of all kinds.

Moratorium on loans

When the LDF government came to power, the State was reeling under a serious agrarian crisis. The first step taken by the State government was to announce a moratorium on farm loans and constitute a debt relief commission. Thanks to the efforts of the government, the number of farmer suicides came down. The efforts to enhance paddy productivity and procurement price of paddy from Rs.7 to Rs.11 in stages brought much solace to the farming community. The government is currently engaged in implementing a Food Security Scheme which would help increase paddy production to 9.45 lakh tonnes annually and bring down the State’s dependence on other States for milk and eggs. The industrial sector has also received a major fillip under the LDF government.

Helping hand for PSUs

The public sector undertakings (PSUs) under the Industries Department have registered impressive performance with their combined profits increasing from Rs.80.31 crore in 2007-08 to Rs.166.77 crore in 2008-09 and turnover from Rs.1,811.07 crore to Rs.2,111.04 crore. The strategy of wedding ailing State PSUs with Central enterprises has led to the revival of many units and infusion of the much-needed capital for their diversification. Brahmos Aerospace Limited, Thiruvananthapuram; Transformers and Electricals Kerala (TELK) Limited, Angamaly; and Autokast, Cherthala; are some of the units which have found new suitors in the form of Central public sector undertakings.

The sharp economic downturn notwithstanding, the LDF government was able to register record tax collection during 2008-’09 with a total estimated mop up of Rs.14,789 crore.

Leakage of revenue at the check-posts was plugged through innovative programmes such as ‘social audit’ at the Walayar check-post. Efforts are also on to modernise all check-posts so that there would be total transparency in their functioning besides providing comfortable passage to the vehicles. The social audit of treasuries has also been completed and steps for their modernisation are afoot. The Kerala State Financial Enterprises (KSFE) and the Kerala Financial Corporation (KFC), two organisations which had suffered heavily on account of total lack of attention from those manning the Finance Department in the past, have been made active players in the State’s financial market. The two organisations are now providing new avenues for savings to individuals and giving much needed resources to those wishing to set up industrial and service enterprises on their own.

Public distribution

The public distribution system has received a major boost with the government announcing in the 2009-10 budget to provide ration rice at Rs.3 to families living the below poverty line (BPL) and to widen the coverage of subsidised ration supply to more families in the above poverty line (APL) category as well. A major campaign to revise the BPL list would commence very soon and would soon result in a list of beneficiaries that would both prevent leakages and facilitate better targeting of welfare support from the government to the needy.

The Kudumbashree Mission has worked wonders among the womenfolk in Kerala with micro-level enterprises coming up all over the State.

The State has also launched a Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme which would cover almost one-third of the State’s population in stages. Kerala is the only State which has innovative refashioning of the Centrally sponsored scheme so that the maximum number of people gets the benefit of health insurance coverage at a time when healthcare costs are shooting through the roof. This is yet another proof for the socially committed and responsive governance that Kerala now has.

C. Gouridasan Nair

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