Vijayan said his government approached the Supreme Court against the Centre’s alleged unconstitutional and illegal measures
Kerela CM Pinarayi Vijayan
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday alleged that the Central government was squeezing the state through unconstitutional financial means.
Addressing the media during the ongoing Navakerala Sadas at Kuravilangad in the Kottayam district on Thursday, Vijayan said his government approached the Supreme Court against the Centre’s alleged unconstitutional and illegal measures that have pushed Kerala into dire straits financially.
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Terming the government’s decision to approach the Supreme against the Centre government “historic”, Pinarayi Vijayan said the petition is to seek restoration of the constitutional rights of the state governments by urging the apex court to prevent unconstitutional interference by the Centre in the states’ financial affairs.
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“The key aspects highlighted in the petition are the unconstitutional interference by the Centre in the State’s financial affairs, the unconstitutional cuts to eligible borrowing limits and inclusion of the State’s public account liabilities and borrowings by State-owned enterprises in the borrowing limit etc., among other things,” CM Vijayan said.
He attributed the current financial crisis experienced by Kerala to the Centre’s failure to provide GST compensation and the reduction in revenue deficit grant.
“Though we had tried to overcome this by increasing tax and non-tax revenue and prioritising expenditure, the economic impact was more than what the State could bear,” he said
The chief minister said the Centre, which imposes strict borrowing limits on the states, is not implementing it for itself. “While the Centre is imposing strict borrowing limits on the states, it(the Centre) is not implementing it for itself,” he said.
The Kerala government has the other day approached the Supreme Court against the Centre imposing a ceiling on the amount it can borrow, saying this had “brought the operation of” its “budget to a grave crisis” and was violative of the principles of fiscal federalism.
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