Kerala Assembly: Oppn members carry placards, protest death of Kozhikode man

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Budget session of the Kerala Legislative Assembly witnessed disruptions on Monday, with a few Opposition members displaying placards to disrupt the proceedings of the House.

The protesting members carried placards that complained about the alleged delay in pension benefits for about sixty lakh people and the death by alleged suicide of differently abled man in Kozhikode, allegedly due to non-payment of social welfare pension dues.

On delay over disbursing social security pension to recipients, Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly, VD Satheesan said, "... Social security pension of more than 50 lakh people of the state has been pending since the last five months. The deserving people are either physically disabled, old, or widows. But this is not the government's priority... The government had nothing to say about this so we had to boycott the proceedings of the assembly... Many others are on the brim of committing suicide because this pension is the only source of their income..."

Citing financial pressure, the distribution of welfare pensions was stopped for a few months.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in a pre-budget press conference, said that the central government's policies were the main hindrances to its efforts to create a new Kerala.

Addressing the press meet, the chief minister said that despite the good achievements in its own tax revenue and domestic production, the financial crisis arising as part of the central government's policies is tightening the state. He asserted that the opposition, which should stand up for the people against these bad policies, instead attacked the government.

As per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission, Kerala can borrow up to 3 per cent of its domestic revenue unconditionally and 0.5 per cent subject to the implementation of reforms in the power sector.

The chief minister alleged that the central government has reduced Kerala's loan limit with retrospective effect from 2021-22 by including the loans taken by independent institutions in the state's loan limit. Due to this, he alleged that there has been a reduction of Rs 6,000 crore in the total credit limit for Kerala in the financial year 2023-24.

Vijayan had asserted that the main source of revenue for the state is tax allocation from the centre and resource transfer through centrally initiated schemes. The state Budget for 2024-25 will be tabled on February 5. The Budget session that started on January 25 is scheduled to continue until March 5.