‘Nirmala Sitharaman presented false facts’, Central aid is given only for few things, says CM

KOZHIKODE: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is presenting false facts and had withheld the welfare pension for three and a half years. He said this while replying to Nirmala Sitharaman who harshly criticized Kerala over central allocation.

‘Central aid is given only for a few things. The finance minister claimed that 34714 crore grants has been allocated to the state. This is not generosity and is the share that Kerala has to get. Even half of the loss incurred to the state has not been redressed. It is understood that Kerala will not get anything in the form of revenue deficit grant in the next two years. The tax share distributed to the states is decreasing. Kerala has to bear huge losses. The centre that reduced Rs 57400 crore comes here and say that everything has been done.

With the arrival of GST, the tax authority has been contracted. Tax share has been reduced to a large extent. Since 2018, various amounts due from the Center have been disrupted. The Center has belatedly given the amount paid by the state in the form of UGC grant. The money was given when the criticism intensified. We are borrowing money due to non-availability of central allocation. The Center is taking the approach of suffocating the state. The union finance minister is not giving any explanation in these things. The chief minister criticized that there is no clarity in what is being said.’

Nirmala Sitharaman had the other day said in the capital city that there is a false propaganda going on in the state regarding the central fund and the propaganda that the required amount is not being paid for widow and old age pensions, is false. The union finance minister's claim was that there are fake campaigns going on in Kerala regarding the central allocation and that the correct amount has been allotted in all the applications of the state till October.