Kerala 2017-18 Budget: Focus on welfare schemes, healthcare

Finance Minister Thomas Isaac has heavily banked on the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), which can raise private funds, to find resources for infrastructure projects in road, health and education sectors.

Free internet connection for 20 lakh families, 40,000 high-tech classrooms, free medicine for patients of diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol problems, and huge investment in welfare schemes — these are some of the salient features of the CPM-led government’s Budget presented in the Assembly Friday.

Finance Minister Thomas Isaac has heavily banked on the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), which can raise private funds, to find resources for infrastructure projects in road, health and education sectors.

Isaac said KIIFB has already taken up projects with outlay of Rs 4,000 crore. Before the end of this fiscal, the board will sanction another batch of infrastructure projects worth Rs 10,000 crore. As many as 3 crore saplings will be planted over the coming year, he said.

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The Budget also focuses on disposal of garbage at source. More assistance will be provided to convert bio-waste into biogas or biocompost at the source. The non-bio-degradable waste will be processed for disposal after collecting and segregating it at the material recovery centre.

The Budget has envisaged setting apart Rs 3,000 crore for reviving Kerala State Road Transport Corporation, a heavy loss-making public sector undertaking. Also, 1 lakh homeless families will get affordable houses in the next year.

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