In what could be seen as a continuation of the affirmative policy of the previous UDF government towards transgenders, the ruling LDF regime has announced plans to allot pension for those above the age of 60.
Finance Minister Thomas Isaac, while presenting the budget, announced the decision today in the Assembly and reaffirmed his government’s commitment to protect the rights of the community. The minister however did not specify what the pension amount would be.
Last year, Kerala had become the first state in the country to reveal a Transgender Policy, that promised to end the stigma towards the sexual minority group.
According to the Finance Minister, tackling the growing revenue deficit would be the first priority of his government. “The fiscal deficit may touch Rs 20000 crore by the end of this year that may create a chaotic situation in managing public finance,” he pointed out.
Dr Isaac told the Assembly that his government would try level best to reduce fiscal deficit through reactivating tax collection machinery.
“Around Rs 24,000 crore is listed as pending dues of tax revenue in the state. But situation has improved since the LDF government has come to power and we are planning to target the revenue collection to 25 per cent and previous year it was only 10 per cent,” he said.
It has also imposed a green tax on private vehicles with four wheel or more and older than 15 years and transport and other vehicles with four or more wheels older than 10 years. It will initiate Rs 1,300 crore investment for new projects in Information Technology sector and around Rs 250 crore to change all filament bulbs to CFL lamps.
The previous government had to collect a total of Rs 1,30,130 crore for the last three years, of which around 81.63 per cent was collected while around Rs 23,900 crore was not collected. This was the major reason for the financial crisis in the State.
The State’s capital expenditure has been lower compared to that of other state governments. The percentage of capital expenditure in the government’s total expenditure has come down from 10.64 per cent during the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) tenure to 6.51 per cent in 2014-15, during the tenure of the United Democratic Front (UDF) government, he alleged. Almost 60-70 per cent of the money borrowed goes to the day to day expenditure of the government and if this continues, the revenue deficit would go up to over Rs 20,000 crore next fiscal year, mainly due to clearance of arrears related to salary enhancement, said the Finance Minister.
