Kerala Budget LIVE Updates: 12th pay revision commission announced, Rs 14,500 crore for pensions ahead of polls

Kerala’s 2026-27 Budget earmarks Rs 14,500 crore for social security pensions and announces pay hikes for frontline welfare workers. (File Photo)

Social security push ahead of polls: Eyeing the upcoming Assembly elections, Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal on Thursday presented a people-centric Budget for 2026-27, announcing a Rs 14,500 crore allocation for social security pensions. Presenting the second Pinarayi Vijayan-led government’s sixth budget in the Assembly, Balagopal said the state would continue to prioritise welfare despite what he described as severe financial constraints imposed by the Centre.

Pay hikes, welfare schemes announced: The budget hiked the monthly honorarium of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and Anganwadi workers by Rs 1,000, while Anganwadi helpers will get an additional Rs 500 per month. The pay of pre-primary teachers and literacy mission motivators has also been raised by Rs 1,000 per month, and daily wages of school cooking staff increased by Rs 25. An allocation of Rs 3,700 crore was announced for the Chief Minister’s Stree Suraksha Scheme, along with enhanced spending on rural employment, insurance cover for all categories including schoolchildren, and free degree education in arts and science colleges.

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Rs 100 cr allocated for RRTS: The budget earmarked Rs 100 crore for initial works on the proposed Regional Rapid Transit System from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod, Rs 150 crore for coastal development, and over Rs 250 crore for forest and wildlife protection. Taking aim at the Centre, Balagopal alleged that Kerala’s tax revenues were being “strangled”, but asserted that the state had continued to progress despite what he termed sustained neglect.

Live Updates

Jan 29, 2026 03:59 PM IST

Kerala Budget LIVE Updates: Sanctity of Budget lost by mixing politics with it, says LoP Satheesan

Opposition parties hit out at the ruling LDF government over its budget, accusing it of turning the financial statement into a "political document" and blamed of giving false promises.

Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan said the document showed that the government was promising to do what it had failed to achieve over the last decade. "In the budget they say they will do what they failed to do in 10 years. They claim there will be changes in sectors where nothing was done during this period," he said. Satheesan alleged that the sanctity of the budget had been lost by mixing politics with it. He said the state budget is presented under Article 202 of the Constitution and is an annual financial statement, not a political document.

Jan 29, 2026 01:37 PM IST

Kerala Budget LIVE Updates: Kerala Budget announces 12th pay revision commission

Apparently eyeing the upcoming assembly elections, Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal on Thursday unveiled a people-focused budget for 2026-27, promising a massive Rs 14,500 crore boost to help social security pensioners and fund a series of new community programmes.

He also announced the 12th Pay Revision Commission in the state budget, continuing the long-standing policy of reviewing government employees' salaries every five years.

Presenting the second Pinarayi Vijayan-led government's sixth budget in the Legislative Assembly, Balagopal announced that the honorarium of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and Anganwadi workers has been hiked by Rs 1,000 per month and that of Anganwadi helpers by Rs 500.

(PTI)

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