It is a historical necessity that States foster better relations with the Centre for their economic growth and welfare.
However, Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac has given priority to abusing and criticising every one of the Centre’s policies all along his Budget speech. This attitude might suit him for political reasons but would not augur well for the State for practical reasons, the BJP’s lone member in the House and veteran leader O. Rajagopal said in the Assembly on Tuesday.
Participating in the general discussion on the Budget, he said almost 31% of the State’s revenue was coming from either Central grants or grant-in-aid schemes. However, there seemed to be an attempt on the part of the Finance Minister to hide that fact or to rename schemes and claim them as the State’s own, he said.
Dr. Isaac had painted a beautiful dream in his Budget but how he would practically implement it was another question. Development projects worth ₹25,000 crore were proposed to be implemented through the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) but the KIIFB itself was still an evolving idea, a chimera, for which even rules had not been framed properly, Mr. Rajagopal said.
Last year, Dr. Isaac announced in his Budget that ₹100 crore was being set aside for developing the Attukal township. Not even a single document could be found in support of this township idea. God forbid that Dr.Isaac’s grand plans for this year suffered the same fate, Mr. Rajagopal, said.
Opposing the Budget, A.P. Anilkumar said never before had there been a time when there was so little utilisation of Plan Funds, at 52%, till March 2 this year.
Dr. Isaac based all his development plans, worth ₹25,000 crore on the fortunes to be brought in by the KIIFB, instead of staying with in the State’s Plan outlay. This would plunge the State into a huge financial crisis in the coming years.
After waxing eloquent on the crisis in the cooperation sector following demonetisation, the Budget did not have any proposals to cushion the ill effects of demonetisation on cooperation or small industries sectors, Mr. Anilkumar said.
Others who spoke during the discussions included John Fernandez, Adoor Prakash, G. S. Jayalal, P. K. Abdurabb, George M Thomas, among others.
