Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal on Friday described as “misleading” Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s recent remarks concerning the Centre-State standoff on the State’s financial position.
After blocking the State’s revenue sources, Ms. Sitharaman was trying to create the impression that it has been given everything, Mr. Balagopal alleged.
The charge that the State government had failed to furnish the Accountant General-certified accounts for 2021-22 to the Centre on time was incorrect. The State had furnished the figures to the AG on time, but the AG had delayed in certifying them and passing them on to the Centre. The AG and the office (of the AG) are institutions controlled by the Central government, Mr. Balagopal said in a detailed counter to Ms. Sitharaman’s remarks which were made during a recent visit to Thiruvananthapuram.
The latter had claimed that the State had failed to furnish the relevant documents on time to claim its due share from the Centre. Mr. Balagopal reiterated his stand that the “fiscal crunch” experienced by Kerala today was largely on account of the reduction in Central transfers and loan approvals.
In the case of social security pensions, the Centre had piled up arrears on its share for over three-and-a-half years. It was only this month that the Centre had sanctioned ₹579.95 crore, the quantum of its share for the January 2020-June 2023 period. While the State meets the social security pension requirements of nearly 62 lakh people, only 5.66 lakh receive a Central share. For instance, for July this year, the State released ₹769.5 crore. The Central share in this is only ₹ 17.15 crore, Mr. Balagopal said.
“The Union Minister, who claims that the Centre had provided all assistance for the pensions, is silent on this point,” he said.
Mr. Balagopal reiterated the LDF government stand that the State was deprived of close to ₹ 57,400 crore in Central transfers and loan approvals the current fiscal compared to previous years.
While the State’s own revenue increased from ₹58,300 crore in March 2022 to ₹71,900 crore in March 2023, the Central share in its revenues dipped from ₹47,800 crore to ₹45,608 crore. Loan approvals in 2020-21 stood at ₹28,566 crore, ₹27,200 crore in 2021-22, and ₹30,800 crore in 2022-23. Revenue deficit grant fell by ₹8,400 crore in 2022-23 compared to the preceding fiscal, he said.
