Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president K. Surendran has demanded that the State government slash the salary of Ministers and MLAs and also axe redundant posts. Mr.Surendran told reporters here on Thursday that the government should contain splurge and direct the resources for the welfare of the people. He accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Finance Minister T.M.Thomas Isaac of hushing up information about Central assistance and spreading canards.
The Centre had provided ₹1,277 crore as the first tranche of the revenue deficit grant but Dr.Isaac was silent on it. The Centre had allotted ₹1,064 crore for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and shared ₹238 crore as advance, which was unprecedented. The State could expend only ₹2,000 crore from the ₹4,750 crore provided by the Centre as flood relief. The kit of essentials being distributed by the State would cost only ₹700 but the governmentput the cost at ₹1,000.