Kerala CM urges MPs to seek higher borrowing limit from centre

Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan urged MPs to press the Centre to raise the state's borrowing limit from 3.5 to 4.5 per cent. The demand, discussed ahead of Parliament's monsoon session, sparked criticism from the Opposition over the government's changed stance

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Thursday urged MPs from the state to press the union government to increase Kerala’s borrowing limit. The CM has already submitted a memorandum in this regard to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The move marks a departure from the UDF’s stance when it was in opposition, when it had criticised the LDF government’s demand for a higher borrowing limit and blamed the Left front for Kerala’s economic crisis, accusing it of “financial mismanagement and extravagance.”

At a meeting of MPs and ministers convened by the CM to set the agenda for the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament, the demand to increase the borrowing limit was the second most important item taken up for discussion.

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The agenda document, a copy of which was accessed by PTI, does not mention the state’s poor financial position, but demands that Kerala’s borrowing limit be increased from 3.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent in order to sustain economic growth and continue infrastructure development.

CPI(M) MP V Sivadasan, who attended the meeting, said it exposed the “double standards” of the UDF government. “When they were in opposition, and the LDF spoke about the financial strangulation of the state by the union government, they blamed the then government for financial mismanagement and never supported our efforts to get our due from the Centre. Now that they are in power, they are raising the demand for increasing the borrowing limit,” Sivadasan said.

He claimed that the government had convened the meeting for political propaganda rather than to ask MPs to work in unity in Parliament for the benefit of Kerala and its people.

Sivadasan alleged that Palakkad MP V K Sreekandan made baseless remarks against the former LDF government during a discussion on the demand for a coach factory in his constituency.

“The Palakkad MP was making baseless remarks against the former LDF government during a discussion on the demand for a coach factory for Palakkad. I had to raise objections and present clear evidence to show what the LDF government and its MPs had done in this regard,” Sivadasan said.

He alleged that although the agenda included major proposals on police modernisation and human-animal conflict, neither Kerala’s home minister nor the forest minister took part in the meeting.

Neither the government nor the CM or ministers concerned has responded to the allegations.The first item on the agenda was a proposal to transform Kerala into India’s integrated maritime-aviation gateway, with a special focus on Vizhinjam-centric development of the Kerala Maritime Economic Region and an airport logistics network, a pet project of Satheesan.

The CM has already submitted a memorandum on this to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought central assistance of Rs 1.54 lakh crore for the project.

Opposition MPs alleged that when they asked whether the assistance would be a loan or a grant, the CM did not provide a proper reply.
“We had asked for the project details, but the CM did not share any concrete project plan, and our questions on the nature of the financial assistance sought were not answered,” Sivadasan said.

The agenda included important proposals on increasing the borrowing limit in the power sector, declaring Ecologically Sensitive Areas in the Western Ghats, and setting up a Southern Kerala Economic Corridor.

Other key items on the agenda were a tribal university in Wayanad, the release of paddy procurement dues from the Centre, amendments to the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and increased aid to mitigate human-animal conflict. The 23-item agenda featured proposals for the development of airports in the state, national highways, an AIIMS for Kerala, and approval for the Global City (Node 2) project in Kochi.