Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac has lashed out at the Centre for allegedly neglecting the State’s interests in the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan economic stimulus package.
Alleging that the ₹20-lakh-crore special financial package had little to cheer for the farming community, Dr. Isaac said the Centre had ignored the need for reducing farm distress in Kerala by supporting the production of cash crops such as rubber, tea, coffee, and pepper.
“While the State government has been extending a support price of ₹150 a kg for rubber growers to offset the fall in natural rubber price, the Centre has yet again failed to adopt any measures to safeguard the interests of farmers. Besides, while the Union Minister for Finance [Nirmala Sitaraman] has assured that the export of tapioca from Tamil Nadu will be facilitated, there is no such guarantee made for Kerala despite the State having a higher production of the tuber crop. The State unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party must explain the reason behind the scant regard shown by the Centre towards the State’s economy,” he said.
‘Hidden agenda’
Alleging that the package was driven by a hidden agenda, Dr. Isaac said it did not provide anything to boost demand while merely focussing on issues that concerned supply. “In fact, the Centre is hell bent on handing over public assets to corporate firms under the guise of fighting COVID-19. Their approach is to squeeze the public for their earnings and release resources for private players. While the Central government hopes the strategy will give a fillip to the economy, it will, in fact, lead the country on its path to destruction,” he said.
Public health system
He also criticised the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government for failing to draw lessons from the COVID-19 crisis and strengthening the public health system.
“Instead, they have decided to allocate ₹8,100 crore to provide Viability Gap Funding for private players in the sector. This approach of promoting the commercial health system by virtually dismantling the public health sector will be detrimental to the interests of the public,” Dr. Isaac cautioned.
