THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The opposition rubbished the last budget presented by the present LDF government as the one with fake commitments and repetition of what has been announced several times earlier.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said that finance minister T M Thomas Isaac has made unrealizable promises as he very well knows that the LDF would not return to power.
Alleging that the finance minister has made a mockery of the very concept of presenting a budget, he said that the budget is totally unrealistic and does not go in tune with the state’s financial situation.
He said that when the finance minister says that he would create 20 lakh jobs in the next five years, what happened to LDF’s claims that it would create 25 lakh jobs in five years.
Chennithala said that the state’s debt is increasing year by year, and the government is only focussed on borrowing more and more, without making any plans to generate revenue. He said that during the Covid-19 crisis, more money should have reached the hands of the public. He said that compassion is the aim of UDF, which is why it announced the Nyay scheme in its draft manifesto.
Chennithala said that rubber farmers should reject the increase in support price that was increased only by Rs 20 in the budget.
Chennithala said that the tall promises made in the past like the Idukki package worth Rs 5,000 crore, Kuttanad package worth Rs 3,400 crore and Wayanad package worth Rs 2,000 crore are all nonstarters.
Chennithala said that the package for coastalarea dwellers, claims of reopening all cashew factories and rejuvenation for the coir sector remain just as promises.
He said that the government has not even sought environmental clearance for the Silver Line rail project, and only 10% of the Rs 60,000-crore projects announced under KIIFB have actually begun.
He said that the announcement that one laptop will be ensured in each home is a mere election stunt, and the government is also fooling government employees by announcing that the revised salary would come into force from April as the election notification would come soon.
IUML leader M K Muneer, MLA, said that given the situation of the state finances, the budget is only a wish-list of the government. He said that the only achievement made by Isaac was to break the record for the lengthiest budget speech by former finance minister K M Mani.