Kerala thumbs-up to welfare measures

Thiruvananthapuram: Two big announcements the state was expecting to hear from Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley – support for rubber farmers and a package for the swelling Gulf returnees – did not come.

Disappointing though it was, the state still could heave a sigh of relief. Its biggest fear  of  Mr Jaitley pulling his welfare purse strings tight could finally be put to rest.

The finance minister has embraced welfare schemes as dramatically as he had bled them in his last budget. In the last budget, for instance, he had reduced central support for Integrated Child Development Scheme (which served children and mothers through anganwadis) by half  from Rs 16,316.05 crore to Rs 8,000 crore. This time, Mr Jaitley has  cranked up assistance to pre-Modi levels to Rs 14,000 crore.

Fearing the worst, the latest Kerala budget had estimated only Rs 24 crore as central assistance for Integrated Child Protection Services (ICPS). “Now, it looks like we can confidently revise the figure upwards,” a top social justice official said.
As for MGNREGA, after giving it the cold shoulder last time, Mr Jaitley scaled up allocation almost to the UPA govt levels.

Perhaps what could turn out to be the biggest drivers for a stagnant state economy are  Mr Jaitley’s proposals to boost consumption, especially the measure to provide affordable housing and the sops announced for start-ups.

“The minister has sought to make housing cheaper. Measures like interest waiver for first-time buyers and indirect tax sops like excise duty exemption for ready-mix concrete could see a spurt in construction activity,” said Mr Janardhanan Nair, a tax expert.