Kerala's Full Budget Bets Big on Welfare, Slams Centre Ahead of Polls

The Vijayan government has gone ahead with a full budget even as the Assembly elections are scheduled this year, and as per the convention, a vote-on-account budget is presented.

Opening the budget presentation, Balagopal asserted that the government had delivered on all its promises and was confident enough to place each development and welfare initiative for public scrutiny.

Declaring that Kerala had already created a "new normal", he said the state would witness transformative change over the next decade.

The Finance Minister also used the occasion to launch a sharp political attack on the Centre, alleging attempts by sectarian forces to undermine Kerala's culture of social harmony and federal values.

A major highlight of the Budget was the continued thrust on welfare pensions.

The government has earmarked Rs 14,500 crore for welfare pensions in the next financial year, including Rs 3,820 crore for women's security pension.

Balagopal said welfare pensions had been increased in phases during the LDF tenure and that nearly 30 per cent of the state's population currently receives some form of welfare benefit.

The government assistance, he noted, now reaches close to one crore people.

He added that by the end of the government's second term, Rs 54,000 crore would have been distributed as welfare pensions over ten years.

Reiterating that the state's debt remains within sustainable limits, the Finance Minister said Kerala had achieved "beneficial progress" over the past four years despite what he termed "extremely serious neglect" by the Centre.

He said the budget formally records the state's protest against this neglect.

According to budget figures, public debt increased from 12.60 per cent in 2023-24 to 15.68 per cent in 2024-25. However, the ratio between public debt and domestic growth rose only marginally, from 23.60 per cent to 24.83 per cent, which Balagopal said reflected fiscal stability.

The Finance Minister accused the Centre of reducing Kerala's tax share, curtailing borrowing limits and tightening financial controls towards the end of the financial year.

Despite these constraints, he said the state managed to stay afloat through improved own-tax revenue mobilisation.

He also alleged that the Centre was steadily eroding the financial autonomy of states, warning that such actions threaten the spirit of Indian federalism.

"Federalism is the soul of India, and this budget records our resistance to attempts to weaken it," he said.

On infrastructure, Balagopal credited Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's political will for the rapid progress of National Highway development in the state, stating that long-pending projects had finally become a reality under the current government.

With Assembly elections only months away, the budget combines strong welfare commitments with a clear political message, positioning the LDF government as both a 'protector' of social security and a 'defender' of Kerala's fiscal rights within the federal framework.

- IANS