Kerala FM declines to withdraw fuel cess amid protests
Opposition vows to continue its agitation inside and outside the Assembly till the government withdraws the “anti-people” cess and taxes.
After the row over the reimbursement of money for the expensive spectacles bought by Kerala health minister KK Shailaja and Kerala Assembly Speaker Sreeramakrishnan, the details of the expenditure on an Ayurvedic massage treatment of the state finance minister Dr Thomas Isaac have now come out.
It has come to light that the finance minister underwent Ayurvedic massage treatment worth Rs 1.20 lakh at a time when te government is looking for ways to cut its expenditures owing to financial crisis In the expenses incurred, Rs 80,000 was paid as room rent.
The minister undertook treatment from 13 to 27 December, 2016 at Kotakkal Aryavaidysala. He also got the total amount reimbursed.Earlier, health minister KK Shailaja and Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan landed in controversy for purchasing expensive spectacles and claiming reimbursement from government.A reply received under RTI act says that Speaker Sreeramakrishnan had claimed Rs 4,25,594 in form of medical reimbursement from 5 September, 2016 to 19 January, 2018. Of that, Rs 49,900 was for buying spectacles (`45,000 for lens and `4,900 for frame).
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The Opposition BJP rapped the ruling LDF government over the alleged extravaganza of its ministers and members. BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan said the Finance Minister who was ‘wailing’ about the fiscal crisis, had claimed public money even for the pillow and ‘thorthu’ used by him.
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