Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac has commenced work on presenting his 12th State Budget, also the last Budget of the present Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.
The Cabinet recommended to Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Thursday to convene the 18th session of the 14th Legislative Assembly from January 8. The Budget will be presented on January 15. The notifications for the Assembly elections in the State are expected from the Election Commission of India in March.
Official sources said the Budget would be a vote-on-account for four months resembling a full-fledged Budget. This time, the government will distribute the report of the Expenditure Committee during the presentation of the Budget.
For Dr. Isaac, the challenge is to meet the aspirations of the people, especially youngsters, keep the development trajectory up, and help the LDF return to power by breaking the electorate’s trend of alternating between the LDF and United Democratic Front (UDF) every five years in the State. A fresh perspective, putting the State on a higher development path, and renewed emphasis on higher education could be the salient points in the Budget.
Online discussions
In view of the COVID-19-induced social distancing norms, the usual pre-Budget discussions were organised by the Finance Minister online this time. Talks with trade union leaders, farmers, and Vice Chancellors of universities have been completed.
On Friday, despite meetings of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] secretariat and the LDF, Dr. Isaac continued to work on the Budget from his office in the Secretariat.
