THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It has been an unremitting tale of neglect for Kerala in Union Budget ever since the Modi government came to power. The latest Budget is no exception to the ‘rule’!
Kerala, it may be mentioned, had pinned great hopes in the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s placatory speeches, post-election. The PM had said now that elections are over, political friends and foes would be treated alike. But the Budget has belied the State’s hopes raised by the talk of inclusiveness that marked the PM’s post-poll speeches.
It is not as if the State is going out of the way to be critical of the Modi Government’s stance vis-à-vis Kerala. The State’s criticism is based on facts and figures, which are self-explanatory.
A closer look is in order to illustrate the point. The cut in allocations, without exception, to Kerala’s traditional industries is as shocking as it is disappointing.
For instance, allocation to the coir sector has plummeted from Rs three crore in the last budget to Rs one crore now. Likewise, the allocation for the National Bamboo Mission has been halved – from Rs 300 crore to Rs 150 crore. The plight of the Rubber Board is no different, its allocation having come down from Rs 172.22 crore last year to Rs 170 crore this year. The Cashew Export Promotion Council saw the allocation being reduced from Rs four crore in the 2018-19 budget to Rs one crore in the current budget.
The unkindest cut, however has been the drastic reduction in the allocation for one of the most people-friendly schemes introduced by the erstwhile Manmohan Singh Government. The scheme suffered a Rs 1084 crore cut – from Rs 61,084 crore last year to Rs 60,000 crore now.
The dire straits in which the rubber growers find themselves need further elaboration. The State had requested that the minimum support price for rubber be raised to Rs 200. The budget has not only turned down the demand but also has remained silent on the plea for steps to alleviate their suffering. The Coconut Board and the Spices Board have faced the same fate with no help to help them.
An Ayurveda Institute of international standards has been a long-standing demand of the State. This is necessary to safeguard the state’s great tradition of ayurvedic treatment. The budget, however, has not allocated even a rupee in this regard.
Another long-standing demand of Kerala is an AIIMS-like Medical institute for the state. Here, Modi Government is not alone to be blamed. The Manmohan Government had also turned a deaf ear to the demand. Kerala’s hopes that things would take a turn for the better with the advent of the Modi government have been dashed to the ground. What makes the rejection more painful is the fact that the neglect continues despite the State’s readiness to acquire 200 acres of land for the purpose. The current budget has maintained a deafening silence on this demand!
As if all this is not enough, Kerala’s dreams of developing waterways to ease the transport problems have also been shattered. Kerala’s repeated requests to announce, in the current budget, the Westcoast Waterways have fallen on deaf ears, too.
Last but not the least, the continued neglect of railway expansion completes the story of Central indifference to Kerala’s demands. The request for doubling of the South-North rail track will remain on paper if the silence on it in the budget is any indication.
The industrial sector is also at the receiving end. The budget has not responded at all to the request for extending the Chennai -Bangalore Industrial Corridor to Kochi via Coimbatore. The budget has administered the shock treatment to Cochin Shipyard by reducing allocation for it from Rs 660 crore to Rs 495 crore in the current budget. The Rs 67 crore allocation enjoyed by Cochin Port Trust has been whittled down to Rs 46 crore.
The health sector in the State, which has made great strides, has also been left in the lurch. This is bad enough. What is worse is the Centre’s attempts to usurp the rights of the State, betrayed in the budget. (IPA Service)
