Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Slams The Union Budget For Neglecting Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: : Kerala's Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, expressed his disappointment with the union budget, stating that it had overlooked the state's needs and aspirations.

The chief minister pointed out that the budget had failed to address the issue of protecting rubber cultivation by not increasing the import duty on rubber products. Additionally, no special consideration had been given to Kerala's paddy, coconut, and spice cultivation.

Pinarayi also highlighted the fact that Kerala had not been allotted premier institutions such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Furthermore, the budget had not taken into account any of Kerala's legitimate demands, including new trains, rail surveys, Sabari line, and track doubling.

The Chief Minister expressed concern that the central government's economic policies were leaving people broke. Despite requests to increase the borrowing limit of states, the publicly available credit to states for capital expenditure had been reduced.

Pinarayi also pointed out that, compared to last year's allocation, the central government had spent less on many sectors, including agriculture, education, health, social welfare, and the development of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Moreover, the spending on fertilisers, food grains, and employment guarantees had been reduced. The central government had seemingly abandoned its promise to increase employment, as evident by the corpus fund for self-employment.

Despite being an election year, the budget appeared to have disregarded the needs of the common man and the state. Pinarayi believed that this indicated the Centre's approach towards the state and its people.

Nevertheless, he stated that the LDF Government would continue to fight for the state's genuine demands, despite the Centre's neglect.