THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Wandoor MLA and former minister for SC welfare A P Anil Kumar on Friday alleged that the lowest government spending by the Scheduled Castes welfare department was in 2019-20.
“Against a budget allocation of Rs 1,562 crore, the department only spent 47 per cent, that is Rs 729 crore in 2019-20,” he said at a discussion on the Kerala Appropriation Bill, 2021 in the assembly. The allocation and spending in 2018-19 were Rs 1,570.36 crore and Rs 1162.66 crore (74 per cent), respectively. Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac did not respond to the allegation in the assembly.
Later, Anil told TNIE that the spending in the 2019-20 fiscal was the lowest in recent history. “The government, in reply to a question in the assembly, told me that the spending was 54 per cent considering the bills queued in the treasury. But this can only be considered as spending in the coming fiscal,” he said. The average spending of the department was above 70 per cent in the previous decade, he said.
Anil alleged that the government’s diversion of fund from the department’s allocation to the LIFE Mission led to the lapse of Rs 400 crore in 2018-19. “The allocation was diverted to the housing scheme and did not materialise due to which it lapsed,” he said.
The discussion wasn’t devoid of political statements. IUML’s N Shamsuddeen alleged that CPM and RSS had a secret understanding. He claimed that RSS, in its study classes across the state, aired the view that it prefers a second term of the Pinarayi Vijayan government to a UDF government. Both the CPM and RSS want a Congress-free India, he alleged.