Farm sector gains in budget

The Kerala government8217;s budget, which was presented today, harped on agrarian development and an ambitious resource mobilisation effort, but contained few surprises.

The Kerala government8217;s budget, which was presented today, harped on agrarian development and an ambitious resource mobilisation effort, but contained few surprises.

Presenting his second budget, Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said it was an exercise that kept 8220;realities in mind and balanced concerns,8221; while pushing for development. Isaac said he would mop up an additional Rs 248.69 crore worth of resources to fuel a projected 8.8 per cent growth rate for the state. Though he outlined a grim Rs 5251 crore revenue deficit and the budget underlined that more than 18 paise of every rupee the government earns will go towards repaying Kerala8217;s mounting debts, Isaac asserted that no revenue or fiscal deficit was going to dissuade the Left government from its pro-common man initiatives.

With the Left government still coping with internal differences over a loan from the Asian Development Bank, Isaac affirmed in his budget speech that the government would not opt for any anti-people loan, and squarely blamed Central policies for forcing the state to do so.

Highlights of the budget included a graded ad valorem hike in tax on vehicles, a substantial hike in stamp duty on property transactions and more tax on tobacco products and paper lotteries, among other things. For the first time, the state will now also levy duty on share transactions and futures trading.

On the flip side, Isaac announced a rationalisation of the tax structure with incentives for prompt payers, which would translate to about Rs 71 crore worth of concessions. Health insurance coverage for the poor, scholarships and a special educational fund for physically challenged children and widening the free noon meal programme in schools to cover plus-2 students, were among the welfare sops.

While Isaac slammed the Centre at every opportunity, a substantial part of his plans remained linked to Central support. He announced a total spend of about Rs 1000 crore on the farm sector, with Rs 162 crore of it to pay pension arrears of farm workers and provide them a nominal hike. A big chunk of the spending would draw from Central schemes, including the Vidarbha-type relief package for areas facing an agrarian crisis.

The Congress-led Opposition claimed the Budget was a disappointment. Opposition leader Oommen Chandy said there was nothing to suggest it was serious about doing anything meaningful.