The Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday had failed to address the concerns and demands raised by Kerala to help it overcome the demonetisation crisis, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.
In a press note issued here, Mr. Vijayan said the Centre had cold-shouldered the issues raised by Kerala in the pre-Budget discussions.
The Budget, he said, had failed to consider the State’s plea to remove the post-demonetisation curbs on cooperative banks and accord them the status of commercial banks.
By doing so, the Central government had turned a deaf ear to the State’s demand for steps to revive the cooperative sector and provide relief to the public dependent on cooperative credit.
Mr. Vijayan said the budgetary outlay for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) would fail to spur employment to the level that would address the crisis caused by demonetisation.
The Centre, he said, had turned down the State’s demand that the borrowing limit be enhanced by 1% in the post-demonetisation scenario. The Budget had no proposal to spur investment in infrastructure development or help rubber farmers by ensuring price stabilisation.
It had also dashed the State’s hopes for enhancement of assistance for Centrally sponsored schemes and a mechanism to ensure timely disbursement of funds. It was unfortunate that the Centre had dismissed the State’s plea to enhance assistance to Central PSUs, including the Cochin Refineries.
Kerala’s longstanding demand for an AIIMS had also been rebuffed even as Gujarat and Jharkhand were considered for the project.
Mr. Vijayan said the Budget had not set aside funds to offset the loss caused to the State by the introduction of goods and services tax (GST). The GST Council, he recalled, had recommended an assistance of Rs.50,000 crore to be disbursed to States for the purpose.
Pointing out that Kerala had been denied adequate funds for social welfare, he said the State’s achievements in the sector were working against it. The Budget, he said, had no proposals for major investment in Central projects nor was there a significant outlay for the Swachh Bharat scheme.
Mr. Vijayan said it was unfortunate that the Centre had not announced debt relief for struggling farmers. The Budget had no special package to revive the agriculture, manufacturing, and services sectors that were left crippled by demonetisation.
