THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The assembly on Tuesday witnessed unruly scenes during the discussion on Appropriation Bill. When Finance Minister Thomas Isaac was replying to the debate on the Bill, Opposition members continuously raised doubts regarding the viability of financing projects worth Rs 50,000 crore through Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).
Then Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan intervened and asked Isaac to continue the reply speech and answer to Opposition’s queries only after his speech.
Irked, Opposition members continued to raise doubts over Isaac’s explanation regarding KIIFB. But the Speaker nudged the minister to continue his speech without yielding to Opposition’s the pressure. Later, when both sides put pressure on Isaac, he stopped his speech midway and placed the Bill for voting. The Bill was passed without Isaac replying to the questions of Opposition members.
Flash point
V D Satheeshan, MLA, alleged Isaac was trying to evade genuine questions by comparing the stimulus package he intended to give to the KIIFB with the stimulus package of the Manmohan Singh government.
Manmohan Singh had a vision, but Isaac was trying to hide the hollowness in his promises by comparing it with Singh’s stimulus package, he said. Earlier, replying to Opposition charges, Isaac said the allegations that the interest rate of the Rs 50,000-crore loan of KIIFB would be a liability to the state government was baseless.
Motion on medical college fees rejected, Oppn walks out
T’Puram: The Opposition UDF walked out of the assembly for the second consecutive day on Tuesday. This time, it was the rejection of the adjournment motion moved by Thiruvananthapuram MLA V S Sivakumar for a discussion on the fee structure of self-financing medical colleges that prompted the UDF to walk out in protest.
“Students are anxious that the government is not announcing the fees to be paid in the medical colleges,” he said. Sivakumar said though the court had cancelled last year’s fee structure for medical colleges, the government is still considering to implemented the same rates. Health Minister K K Shailaja said the government won several cases in the Supreme Court against college managements. This did not happen before LDF’s tenure, she said. Following her reply, Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan rejected the adjournment motion.