Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Thursday said that the Pinarayi Vijayan government, which ruled the state for ten years “by lying”, is trying to deceive the people in its last budget as well.
Reacting to the budget presented in the Assembly on Thursday, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the LDF government is fooling the people of Kerala by making big announcements from an empty treasury. He government that has been trying to prevent the Central schemes from reaching the people of Kerala for the last 10 years, has presented the Central schemes in its own name in the budget.
The government’s claim in the budget that 39.79 lakh connections have been provided through the Jal Jeevan Mission is unrealistic. Kerala’s rural coverage (55.54%) is far behind the national average (80%); about 32 lakh households in Kerala still do not have piped water, he said.
While the finance minister claims that the Karunya scheme is a huge success, he said the reality is quite different. The scheme is in debt of over Rs 1,200 crore, which includes over Rs 200 crore in arrears to medical suppliers. This is leading to shortage of essential medicines in hospitals under the scheme, the BJP state chief added.
Stating that there is nothing in the budget to save the collapsed state’s economy, Chandrasekhar said the state government’s administrative and financial failures have disrupted paddy procurement and put farmers in a crisis.