‘Budget lacks blueprint for future Kerala, allocations for sectors reduced'

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan stepped forward strongly criticizing the UDF government's maiden budget. He said Chief Minister V D Satheesan's remarks on the economic crisis is just a political accusation and that the LDF government left with a surplus of Rs 6,000 crore in the treasury.

The opposition leader accused the government of not having a blueprint for the future of Kerala in the budget. He said the UDF government was announcing new ones by changing the names of the previous announcements in the LDF government's budget.

He said the white paper was an anticipatory bail taken by the government and added that even though the economic situation was not bad, there was a retreat from the public welfare announcements in the budget. The previous budget allocation for public welfare was reduced in many areas. He blamed the government for sidelining agricultural support measures introduced by the previous LDF government and failing to mention key initiatives such as the Extreme Poverty Eradication Project.