White Paper punctured Satheesan's earlier claims: Balagopal

T'puram: Former finance minister K N Balagopal said the White Paper on state finances brought out by the UDF govt on Thursday proved chief minister V D Satheesan’s earlier claims about the state’s finance wrong. Satheesan had been claiming that the state was faced with a liability of over Rs 6 lakh crore, but the document presented by his govt confirmed that the liability was only Rs 5 lakh crore, as always maintained by the LDF govt, he said.

Balagopal said the revenue deficit grant of over Rs 14,000 crore anticipated in the last LDF budget was purposeful as Centre did not say a definite no to the demand for the extension of revenue deficit grant. Addressing a news conference at the legislative assembly complex, Balagopal claimed that the Centre may have sanctioned a considerable amount of funds to Kerala even if it refuses to give revenue deficit grant. “The White Paper proved that Kerala is not in a debt trap as claimed by UDF earlier,” Balagopal said.

He also criticised the UDF govt, saying that the document did not elaborate on what triggered the financial difficulties. The tax revenue from Centre and other grants have come down considerably. But the White Paper is silent on such genuine reasons and challenges. Balagopal said it was improper on the part of the state govt to engage a committee outside the finance department for the preparation of the White Paper. It was a wrong practice and would set a bad precedent, he said, adding that the govt compromised on the secrecy of govt accounts.

Later, former finance minister T M Thomas Isaac justified KIIFB and heavy borrowings by the Pinarayi govts. He said it was true that the major share of the borrowings was spent on revenue expenditure. However, the anti-Kerala stand of Centre was the real reason for the financial problems of the state, he said. While the central share to Kerala contributed to 25% of its revenue, the central share received by many other states amounted to 50% of their revenue, he said, adding that the Indira guarantees promised by the UDF would fail to take off.