The Finance Minister said that Kerala is facing a steep fall in tax and non-tax revenue (Representational)
Thiruvananthapuram:
The Kerala Assembly on Tuesday witnessed a war of words between the CPI(M)-led ruling front and the Congress-led opposition over the continuous hike in fuel prices in the country and the latter walked out of the house terming it a “state-sponsored tax”. terrorism”.
Though the LDF government maintained that the state government was not responsible for the hike in fuel prices, the members of the UDF wanted it to forgo the additional tax revenue on its sales for the sake of the struggling common people.
Rejecting the opposition’s demand, Finance Minister KN Balagopal said the southern state was facing a steep fall in tax and non-tax revenues due to the prevailing Covid situation in the country and even the state’s borrowings. Freedom to take was also limited by the existing law.
Giving a detailed account of the grim economy of the state, he said that the government has to earmark more than Rs 900 crore per month for social security pension alone.
He said an additional Rs 14,500 crore was required as part of the recent revision of salaries and pensions of government employees and retired employees.
Mr. Balagopal said, “In view of COVID-19, it is certain that more amount should be ascertained to meet the expenditure. In this circumstance, reducing the state tax (on fuel) will further aggravate the crisis. “
Instead, there should be a change in the central policy of drastically increasing petrol and diesel taxes in a short span of time, he said.
The minister also wanted all parties to unite across political lines against the central policy, which puts so-called heavy burden on common people at the time of COVID spread.
Observing that the state government does not have the authority to decide the prices of petrol and diesel, Mr. Balagopal, who was also a former Rajya Sabha MP, said that the UPA and NDA governments at the Center had left it to the market to decide .
“This price jump has been going on ever since,” he said. He claimed that Kerala was one of the few states which had not hiked fuel tax despite the Covid crisis followed by several other states in the country.
Rejecting the finance minister’s arguments, Shafi Parambil (Congress), who has sought notice for an adjournment motion, said that the reason for the hike in fuel price is not just the pricing power being given to the companies, but imposed by the state and the union. “Tax terrorism”. Governments.
The MLA alleged that the government and not the companies were behind the continuous increase in prices.
Accusing the BJP-NDA government at the Center on this issue, he said that certainly the government that governs the country is the first to be blamed.
Supporting his arguments, VD Satheesan, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, said that the persistent fuel price hike was nothing but “tax terrorism” and that both the central and state governments saw it as the best way to fill the exchequer. Was looking
The opposition later staged a walkout in the House as Speaker MB Rajesh had rejected the leave for the motion.
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