Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Ramesh Chennithala has expressed hope that the complaints raised by party MLAs about the revised budget presented on Friday will be addressed by Finance Minister K.M. Mani during the budget discussion.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function here on Saturday, Mr. Chennithala said the MLAs could not be faulted for raising complaints about the budget as they dealt closely with the people.
He said criticisms were natural, as every demand could not be included in a budget. T.N. Pratapan, MLA, had given a written complaint while some others had complained over phone. All these had been passed on to the Minister.
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Mr. Chennithala said that defects, if any, in the budget would be set right through discussions. He said that complaints raised by Congress MLAs had been conveyed to the Finance Minister. Mr. Chennithala said that all 14 districts had had been represented in the budget. He hailed the revised budget as one of the exceptional budgets ever presented in the State.
Ravi hails budget
Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs and Civil Aviation Vayalar Ravi said the budget reflected the government's perception of the State's development. The budget, he said, had an approach which would undoubtedly give a quantum jump to the State's progress.
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Mr. Ravi said that complaints of MLAs could be addressed. He, however, felt that rather than airing such complaints publicly, they should have raised the issues in the parliamentary party forum. Mr. Ravi said that taken in its entirety, the budget was a well-directed one with purpose.
Mr. Ravi, however, found fault with the approach of the CPI(M), in general, and that of Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan, in particular. Mr. Ravi said the comment that the budget only mentioned Kottayam and Malappuram was in bad taste. He said the CPI(M) should not have given such a communal spin to the budget.