The Kerala Legislative Assembly on Friday passed a resolution unanimously accusing the Union government of destroying the federal structure of the constitution by financially strangulating the state.
The resolution urges the Centre to “desist from the move to slash down the state’s borrowing limit and withholding various grants to the state”.
The resolution was moved by state Finance Minister K N Balagopal under Rule 118 of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Assembly.
Speaker A N Shamseer announced that the resolution was passed unanimously with the Congress-led UDF Opposition not raising any objection to the resolution. However, Opposition MLAs were absent in the Assembly when the resolution was passed as they had staged a walkout.
The resolution said Kerala faced a major loss when the 15th Finance Commission decided the state’s share of grants. Besides, the Centre went beyond the accepted recommendations of the Finance Commission and slashed the state’s borrowing limit with retrospective effect from 2021-22.
The Finance Commission’s recommendations, reported in both houses of Parliament with the President’s consent, were thrown to the winds by the Union Finance Ministry when it came to borrowing limits, the resolution said.
“In addition, the grants to the state have been blocked. All these actions amount to endanger the federal system,” the resolution said.
“Certain actions of the Union Government have led to a situation in which the states are deprived of their constitutionally reserved powers. States are bearing a lion’s share of expenditure including welfare schemes but a major share of the revenue goes to the Centre,” the resolution further said.