Kerala FM condemns Centre’s Rs 5,900 cr cut as ‘politically motivated’ ahead of polls

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal on Friday condemned the Centre’s decision to cut Rs 5,900 crore from the state’s permissible borrowing limit in the final quarter of the current financial year, calling it “politically motivated and entirely unjust.”

He said the state government was informed of this “anti-Kerala decision” through a letter received from the Centre on Wednesday night.

“The Centre’s move is a direct attack on Kerala’s development and welfare programmes,” Balagopal told PTI here.

He said for the past four and a half years, Kerala has faced multiple pressures, and now, just three months before the elections, such a severe cut has been imposed.

“This is clearly aimed at obstructing the government’s welfare initiatives in its final months,” he said.

The Finance Minister said this is a declaration of war by the central government against the people of Kerala.

“It comes in addition to the Centre denying Kerala its rightful share of taxes in multiple ways, making this move even more outrageous,” Balagopal said.

Centre withdrawing from employment gaurantee scheme implementation: Min

The Minister also highlighted that the Centre has begun withdrawing from the implementation of the employment guarantee scheme.

“They are removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the scheme and transferring a large part of its financial burden to the state. Kerala will now have to spend over Rs 2,000 crore annually from its own funds to run the programme,” Balagopal said.

He described the move as a “violation of federal norms” and criticised it for coming at a politically sensitive time.

“The people of Kerala must unite and strongly protest this decision,” Balagopal urged.