Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala on Monday said the government should extend the 2019-20 fiscal to three months.
He said here that the Plan fund utilisation was a dismal 53.46%. He asked the government to defer new tax proposals scheduled to kick in on April 1. The government should channelise Plan funds to local self-governments to pay salaries and clear debts of public work contractors. The State owed contractors ₹2,081.19 crore.
He alerted the government that personal protection equipment for COVID-19 caregivers was fast running out and stocks required to be replenished. Health workers had told him that N95 masks and ventilators were in short supply. Hospitals in Kerala currently had 1,800 intensive care unit beds with ventilator support. The State would require up to 5,000 ventilators to save lives if the disease worsened.
