Union Budget Betrays Kerala, SC/ST Communities: CPI(M) General Secretary M A Baby

Thiruvananthapuram: CPI(M) General Secretary M A Baby has said the Union Budget amounts to a financial betrayal of Kerala and has neglected SC/ST and backward communities. He alleged that the biggest fraud has taken place in the VB GRAM G scheme, pointing out that when the Centre alone was spending funds, only a small amount had been announced, but now the allocation has been increased to 94,000 crore rupees.

He said that under the 60:40 funding ratio, states would now be forced to find a disproportionately large share of funds corresponding to the Centre’s announcement. This, he alleged, is an attempt to place a heavy financial burden on states and eventually scrap the project. Kerala, he said, has been allotted only a turtle conservation-related project. Despite this, the Prime Minister had promised major announcements, raising expectations in the state. The budget, he added, has even made BJP leaders in Kerala—who had anticipated surprising announcements—look foolish.

Responding to Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s claim that it is wrong to say Kerala did not receive projects in the Union Budget and that projects sanctioned by the Centre have not been implemented by the state so far, M A Baby said Rajeev Chandrasekhar has been entrusted with the task of justifying whatever decisions are taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.