THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As opposed to belligerent posturing against the BJP-led Union government and the Opposition UDF last time, K N Balagopal opted to go forth on a positive note this time around. Stepping into the arduous task of keeping Kerala’s fiscal stock afloat ahead of back-to-back elections, it was the pragmatic politician rather than the finance minister that ruled the day.
In a marked departure from the last nine LDF budgets, Balagopal chose to paint an ‘all is well’ scenario. In the penultimate budget of the second Pinarayi cabinet, he boldly declared that trying times are on the way out. Stating that Kerala’s fiscal position has improved, he exuded confidence that the economy is poised for a take-off.
In an election year, Balagopal doesn’t have much of a choice, pointed out political analyst J Prabhash. “Even when he says the fiscal scenario is stable, the fine print shows it’s not. The actual allocations, even for crucial sectors, are very less. He has chosen to stay content with whatever little was available. He cannot be blamed.
In the given scenario, this is all he can do,” he observed. Having said that, Balagopal is well aware of the fiscal constraints, but has chosen a seemingly clever approach. Though it has all the trappings of a populist budget, he stopped short of going the whole way. While service pension arrears and pay revision arrears were cleared, rise in welfare pension, though widely anticipated, didn’t figure in budget. He could easily be saving the best for the last; the reason why the UDF termed it a farewell budget.
Despite the claim of stability, the buget lacks novelty — only a few new initiaives have been announced. Though Balagopal spoke about Wayanad at length, there is no new allocation for landslide victims. Allocation to establishments like Supplyco barely covers the payment due from government. Also, the declaration to replace the contributory pension scheme with an assured pension scheme was in the last budget too.
The speech did have its usual dose of Centre-bashing. In a strongly-worded critique, the CPM leader blamed the Union government citing its neglect as the sole reason for Kerala’s fiscal constraints.
The decline in the state’s share of taxes out of total taxes collected by the Centre had begun around a quarter of a century ago. More than three pages were dedicated to such criticism. However compared to the past, it was toned down, and contained scattered glimpses of a conciliatory and optimistic leitmotif.
True to the Communist spirit, Balagopal made it a point to touch upon the international scenario too. Pointing fingers at the newly-elected US president, he dutifully criticised autocracy and dictatorship, stressing on a rising atmosphere of fear, hatred and war mongering across the globe. “Kerala should be well prepared to face such challenges. It’s time to join hands to strengthen the democratic-secular values and progressive perspectives,” he added.