On Friday, the Kerala Assembly passed a resolution criticising the Union government for allegedly trespassing on the fiscal and jurisdictional powers of the State by voice vote and without debate. The Congress-United Democratic Front (UDF) boycott of the day’s business precluded the Opposition from debating the motion.
Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal tabled the resolution, which accused the Union government of attempting to strip States of their authority. He said the Centre had systematically reduced the States’ share of national revenue. It allegedly ignored that States bore most of the capital expenditure for infrastructure development schemes and underwrote most social welfare programmes. The resolution said the 15th Finance Commission had recalibrated the devolution of taxes to deny provincial governments their legitimate share.
