World Bank representatives coming on May 5; Kerala government diverts Rs 140 crore given for implementation of 'Kera'

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government has been accused of diverting Rs 140 crore provided by the World Bank to implement the agricultural sector modernization project "Kera". The condition is that if the World Bank gives the money, it should be transferred to the accounts of the project implementers within a week. The Rs 140 crore provided on March 17 was not transferred as per the said provision. Since it is the end of the financial year, it was spent on other matters.

World Bank representatives are coming on May 5 to find out to what extent the project has been implemented using the amount. It remains to be seen what lame excuse the government will come up with for them. The remaining Rs 1516 crore is yet to be obtained from the World Bank.

The Kerala Climate Resilient Agri Value Chain Modernization Project (KERA) is a project that aims to prevent natural disasters including floods, combat climate change, and promote value-added agricultural products and small private enterprises. The total cost of the project is Rs 2366 crore. Of this, Rs 1656 crore is a World Bank loan. The remaining Rs 710 crore will be taken from the state government treasury. The World Bank transferred the first instalment of Rs 139.66 crore on March 17. That is what was diverted.

The World Bank was informed that the "Kera" project would be inaugurated on February 3. The government is planning to inaugurate the project later this month as part of the government's fourth-anniversary celebrations. The project aims to directly help four lakh farmers and indirectly help 10 lakh farmers.

"The delay in transferring the amount received on March 17th was due to technical issues. It has been transferred to the specified account in the last few days. There is nothing to worry about."

-K.N. Balagopal,

State Finance Minister