Amid sloganeering against him by the opposition UDF, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan delivered the customary speech to the Assembly with a policy document outlining the administrative achievements of the Left government and the state over financial constraints allegedly by reducing the allocation of its resources. Criticized the Center for pushing.
Khan, who delivered the policy speech marking the budget session of the assembly, underscored the importance of “cooperative federalism” and said that in recent times, legislation by the central government on subjects included in the state and concurrent lists can be done without effective consultation. are. with states.
“It goes against the grain of cooperative federalism. My government is of the opinion that it should not be a practice to continue,” he said. There was speculation that Khan, who has been at loggerheads with the Pinarayi Vijayan administration on various matters, may drop parts of the state government’s policy document criticizing the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.
The governor, however, did not omit any part in his address, which was boycotted by the Congress-led UDF opposition, and alleged an “unholy nexus” between him and the CPI(M)-led state government. The budget session started with a ruckus and the opposition UDF raised “go back” slogans against Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and staged a sit-in on the portal of the House after boycotting the proceedings.
As the governor entered the assembly hall to deliver his customary policy speech, the opposition members started shouting slogans and displayed a banner and a series of placards that could have read like ‘Government-Governor unholy alliance’ and they Lokayukta signed. Ordinance to protect Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The ordinance brought in by the Left government had recently created a political storm in the state as opposition parties objected to it, saying it would undermine the anti-corruption watchdog.
Kerala witnessed high drama on the eve of the budget session on Thursday as Khan refused to sign a policy document of the LDF government as a mark of outrage over a letter initially written against the appointment of a senior journalist-to-politician. Had given. Head post in Raj Bhavan.
Observing that federal politics requires the central and state governments to work together to do justice to the people, Khan, in his address, said, in these difficult times, all the principles of cooperative federalism need to be imbibed and synergised. Committed to finding areas. oath. Giving details of the financial constraints faced by the state, he said that apart from the revenue loss due to COVID, Kerala is currently facing a huge cut in revenue from central transfers.
There has been a steady decline in the State’s share provided by the Central Finance Commissions from the divisible pool, he said. “At the time of the 10th Finance Commission, the state’s share was 3.8 per cent of the divisible pool. The Finance Commission, this was reduced to 2.5 per cent and now the 15th Finance Commission allows award of only 1.92 per cent,” he said. He said that the revenue deficit grant is being reduced rapidly in the coming financial year.
He said that it has been the practice of the Central Government to exempt direct taxes falling in the divisible pool and garner significant amount of revenue by way of cess and surcharge, which are not in the divisible pool.
“It causes a drastic fall in the share of resources due to the state. Therefore, it is not only the reduction in the state’s own revenue that causes the deficit but mainly at the central government level in devolution of resources to the states. There is change in policy. Which pushes the state government into financial difficulties,” he said.
Importantly, while the central government’s fiscal deficit is around 6 per cent, the states’ deficit is limited to 3 per cent. This is “unscientific” as the expenditure obligation of the state is much higher than that of the union and the expenditure has increased manifold due to the COVID related packages and assistance from the state government, he said. Stating that the Union Budget has not accommodated any of Kerala’s long-standing demands, he said the state government expected early approval from the Center for its ambitious K-Rail Rail Corridor project, which Nirmala Sitharaman said. There is no mention in Sitharaman’s recent budget.
Claiming that the climate of “economic distress” currently prevailing in the country has been highlighted by the recent farmers’ agitation against the agricultural law, he said that the movement was a reflection of acute deprivation among workers and farmers in rural and urban settings, which requires immediate drastic intervention. Highlighting the achievements of the LDF government, he said that the state has been at the forefront in areas like sustainable development, health, general education etc. He said that the State Government is effectively running the vaccination campaign to build herd immunity against Kovid-19 in the society.
He said that enabling the citizens of the state to avail quality infrastructure for basic services of water, power, telecommunication and transport is one area on which the state government is focusing its attention and identifying innovative projects. . On the multi-crore K-rail project, against which the opposition is leading a state-wide project, he said it would provide a new eco-friendly transport mode compared to fossil fuel-based transport and would be a green initiative that Will inspire. Employment and growth while increasing the speed, pleasure and comfort of travel. Referring to the Mullaperiyar dam issue, Khan said that while Kerala is committed to providing water to Tamil Nadu while protecting the lives of its people, it has proposed to build a new dam in place of the existing dam which is almost a century old. And a quarter old.
The Governor also mentioned that the LDF government intends to revise the Housing Policy 2011 and will go ahead with a proposal to prepare a new curriculum based on the National Policy on Education (NEP), 2020. It was important to note that the ruling members remained silent throughout. His address was missing this time as the usual rumble on the desk referring to the achievements of the government. This was generally seen as a silent protest against Khan for creating high drama on the eve of the budget session by refusing to sign the policy document.
The issue was resolved after the government came under pressure from the Governor, replacing KR Jyotilal as Principal Secretary, General Administration Department (GAD), a senior civil servant. It was Jyotilal who wrote to the Raj Bhavan on behalf of the government a few days ago, citing violation of the prevailing conventions in appointing former BJP leader Hari S Karthi as additional personal assistant to the governor.
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