‘Should abandon anti-democratic approach towards states’: Kerala Assembly passes resolution against Centre

“This Legislative Assembly has no doubts [that] various actions of the Union Government and the finance ministry would undermine the concept of federalism. The state has supreme authority over the issues in the State List as the Union Government has over the Union Lists provided in the seventh schedule of the Constitution. The Centre should abandon its anti-democratic approach towards the states,” the resolution said.

It further said that there has been massive encroachment into the legislative as well as financial powers of the states in recent years. “Certain actions of the Union Government have led to a situation in which the states are deprived of their constitutionally reserved powers. States are bearing a lion’s share of expenditure including welfare schemes but a major share of the revenue goes to the Centre,” the resolution added.

The state incurred heavy losses when the 15th Financial Commission determined the share of the states, the resolution said, adding that the Centre has also cut down the state’s borrowing limit with retrospective effect from 2021-22.