Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan on December 5 (Tuesday) rebutted the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] claim that the Congress’s adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha blaming the Centre’s “fiscal hostility” for Kerala’s financial crisis contradicted the United Democratic Front’s (UDF) narrative about the State’s economic woes and validated the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s stance.
The Congress’s Lok Sabha member from Thrissur, T.N. Prathapan, had moved the adjournment motion blaming the Centre for the State’s financial crisis.
Mr. Satheesan claimed that the Congress had repeatedly slammed the Centre’s trespasses on fiscal federalism in the Assembly and outside.
He said the Centre’s scaling down of Kerala’s tax dividend (devolution of taxes) and denial of GST compensation merely exacerbated the financial crisis precipitated by the State Government’s dismal fiscal management, maladministration, prolificacy and corruption.
“Mr. Prathapan has simply echoed the party’s line. There is no divergence as insinuated by the CPI(M)“, he said.
Mr. Satheesan’s reaction came against the backdrop of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and CPI(M) central committee member A.K. Balan portraying the adjournment motion as a political victory for the LDF and a high-profile rebuttal of the Congress’s off-repeated position reproaching the State government for the financial crunch.
Grim picture
Mr. Satheesan painted a grim picture of Kerala’s finances. He accused the government of running the State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) to financial ruin by withholding payments to traders who supplied provisions.
“The government owes Supplyco ₹1,500 crore. Suppliers are not participating in e-tenders floated for basic provisions by Supplyco. The shelves of Supplyco stores are empty of subsidised essentials. The government owes Supplyco crores of rupees for procuring paddy from farmers. The cash-strapped State Farmer’s Debt Relief Commission no more accepts pleas for financial help from farmers”, Mr. Satheesan said.
He said the Kerala State Electricity Board’s (KSEB) loss had leapt to ₹40,000 crore under seven years of Left Democratic Front (LDF) rule.
The government lacked the money to pay the salaries of State employees, welfare and employee pensions, and dearness allowances, he said.
The treasury was bone-dry. Local development works have ground to a halt because of the government’s inability to pay public work contractors. Potholed roads pointed to a State in financial decline, he added.
‘Cabinet on Statewide tour’
Mr. Satheesan said the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues were on a Statewide tour onboard an expensive luxury coach when the State was in a deep and seemingly irrecoverable financial crisis.
The government scrounged off the public exchequer to fund its pre-Lok Sabha poll political campaign thinly veiled as a mass contract programme, he said.
“There is a power vacuum in the Government Secretariat. The Centre of power is devoid of staff. Taking a cue from the Cabinet, bureaucrats have gone on family outings. People’s issues have taken a back seat. The government is in free fall”, Mr. Satheesan said.
He accused the government of forcing the public to pick up the tab for its financial mismanagement by hiking power and water tariffs, jacking up property tax and slapping an extra cess on fuel and liquor. He said the LDF had upended the family budget and worsened the cost of living crisis and seller inflation by unthinkingly raising the cost of commuting and freight movement. He said the government had rendered the State a haven for tax dodgers.
The GST intelligence rarely conducted inspections or raids to expose defaulters. Instead, the CPI(M) exploited the department’s heft to amass wealth for its political activities, he said.
