The Kerala Assembly on Monday passed the finance bills — the Kerala Finance Bill, 2020, and the
Finance (No. 2) Bill, 2020 — and the Kerala Appropriation Bill, 2020, the passage of which were delayed owing to the pandemic. The bills were passed after incorporating certain modifications proposed by the legislators.
The Finance Bill proposed a rebate to the one-time building tax levied by the Revenue Department for residential buildings in grama panchayats. The move comes against the backdrop of hikes implemented in the State Budget. Previously, tax rates were categorised into two with grama panchayats and municipalities slotted together and municipal Corporations separate. This had led to a drastic hike in building tax in grama panchayats.
In an amendment proposed by Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac, the tax rates will be reverted to the original categories — grama panchayat, municipality and municipal Corporation. While the plinth area tax rates of residential and other buildings in municipalities and Corporations will remain the same as proposed in the budget, those in grama panchayats has fallen considerably, bringing much relief to large sections of people.
Obit references
The Assembly paid tributes to prominent leaders who died recently. They included Rajya Sabha MP and former Union Minister M.P. Veerendra Kumar and former MLAs P.K. Kumaran, P. Narayanan and V.K. Babu.
In his obituary reference, Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan described Veerendra Kumar as a crusader for environment and an erudite parliamentarian who had upheld socialist ideals throughout his life.
COVID-19 tests
The Assembly session was held in strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols with all legislators and Assembly staff subjected to antigen tests. While all of the legislators who were tested in the Legislators’ Hostel tested negative, Perumbavoor MLA Eldhose Kunnappilly’s personal assistant was diagnosed with the disease. Following this, the legislator left the Assembly premises soon after casting his vote for the Rajya Sabha election.
Two others — a sweeper at the Legislators’ Hostel and an Assembly worker’s wife — also tested positive when 199 people were tested.
