The stand-off between the State government and Centre on fiscal matters led to a brief exchange between Transport Minister Antony Raju and Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan at the inaugural of the fifth Global Ayurveda Festival here on Friday.
Mr. Raju, who welcomed the gathering, blamed the Centre of depriving the State its due financial share. The Centre is yet to release ₹ 371.36 crore due to the State by way of health grant for the financial years 2021-22 and 2022-23, he said.
He also accused the Centre of trying “to snatch” credit for the State’s development in the health sector by rebranding the primary health centres as ‘Ayushman Arogya Mandirs.’
Mr. Muraleedharan, who spoke next, described Mr. Raju’s comments as “politically motivated.” Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who was in Kerala recently, had refuted the claims made by the State government.
“She has very clearly mentioned that every claim of the Government of Kerala has been met by the Government of India and the Centre has never tried to withhold a single paisa,” Mr. Muraleedharan said.
