LDF govt doesn’t need lessons from Centre on welfare funding: Pinarayi

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said his government doesn’t need lessons from the Centre on welfare spending. He said the LDF government does not fear the Centre’s ‘threat’ in this regard. The chief minister was responding to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman’s remarks at a public function in the state capital recently. She had criticised the “indiscriminate borrowing by the state”.

“She said welfare activities require the Union government’s sanction. Kerala does not follow the Centre’s policy on welfare activities. The Centre is interested in ensuring the welfare of corporates. The state does not think that the welfare of corporates is everything,” he said while inaugurating the new Treasury Headquarters in the capital.   

“The state government is trying to ensure the welfare of the poor, downtrodden and workers. For that, the state does not require your permission. Do not threaten us,” he added. Pinarayi alleged that the Centre had a partisan approach towards states. “It creates fiscal difficulties for states. It grants funds in excess and supports states of its choice and denies eligible rights of the ones they do not like. This practice does not fit in the federal setup. The state had several bad experiences. It is yet to get an AIMS. The Centre should not claim exclusive rights over the money collected from states through different sources,” the chief minister said.

He also criticised the Centre’s restrictions on borrowings by state governments. “Borrowing is inevitable to meet the demands of any government. The Centre’s foreign debt is Rs 49 lakh crore, of which Rs 3.60 lakh crore was made this year alone,” he said.

Finance Minister K N Balagopal, who presided over the function, said the Centre was not allowing states to make borrowings to source funds for supporting the people.

He said the Treasury is helping the government in liquidity management.It supports all development and welfare activities of the government, including service and social security pensions, he said.

The function was attended by ministers G R Anil and Antony Raju, MP A A Raheem, MLA V K Prasanth, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) Bishwanath Sinha, Finance Resources OSD Mohammed Y Safirulla and Treasuries Director Sajan. The new Treasury Headquarters is near the Milma campus at Pattom.