T’puram: Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state intended to progress on its own strength without waiting for anyone’s mercy hinting at the continued neglect by centre to the extent of squeezing the revenue share due to the state.Speaking at the inauguration of 5th Kerala Studies Congress, organised by AKG Research Centre in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, Vijayan said, “Despite the limitations, Kerala will move forward towards the goal of a developed state by utilising all possibilities permitted by the Constitution. Central govt is financially squeezing the state. Kerala, which accounts for 2.59% of the country’s population, receives only 1.92% of the tax share. The share, which was 3.9% during the 10th Finance Commission, was reduced. There was also a cut in the loan share.”
In the last 4 years, Centre denied around Rs 2 lakh crore. Kerala lost about Rs 10,000 crore due to changes in the tax share. Only 20-25% of Kerala’s revenue comes from the central share, while for some other states, it is up to 80%. Despite this pressure, Kerala is achieving progress, which is noteworthy, he added. “The state rose from the 11th to the 6th position in the states’ per capita income rankings. These are proofs that we are on the right path of development,” Vijayan said. “In the context of increasing neglect by central govt towards Kerala, new possibilities for resource mobilisation need to be explored. The aim is to generate more revenue through resource mobilisation. We should move forward with a perspective to make sectors like agriculture and innovative industries more revenue-generating. The experience, challenges and opportunities of 10 years of continuous governance are ahead of us. LDF govt’s mission is to double Kerala’s gross domestic product in the next few years and to elevate each family’s standard of living to a level close to that of developed countries. The aim is to create a developed new Kerala while strengthening state’s social welfare interventions, which are a model for the world,” CM said. The 10 years of governance laid a solid foundation for the declared goals, he said. “A clear vision has been formed about what new Kerala should be in all aspects of life. Economic challenges are ahead of us. The financial constraints imposed by Centre, debt restrictions, and debt sustainability are affecting states in general. However, Kerala has been able to continue investing in education, health, infrastructure development and industry. Secularism and social harmony have become the most important components of Kerala’s new development,” he added. “The next challenge is to update the Kerala development model according to the times. The future Kerala should be the Kerala of our children’s dreams. It should not be limited to being just a consumer state. We should be able to create world-class products and services. The state should become a hub of human resources capable of contributing to the world in that manner. The state should transition from an era of brain drain to an era of brain gain,” he added.
