The Hindu : `Take loans for productive purposes'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 04, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

`Take loans for productive purposes'

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB. 3. With both the Congress and the Left parties now busy at the national-level, trying to evolve a common strategy to keep the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance out of power at the Centre, how should the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) approach the coming Lok Sabha elections in Kerala?

The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) MLA, K.N.A. Khader, had this suggestion when the supplementary demands for grants in the Budget for 2003-04 was taken up for discussion in the Assembly today:

"There is no point in the UDF and the LDF fighting it out in Kerala, since our agenda at the Centre is the same. We should sit together and thrash out a seat-sharing formula," he said.

The Congress MLA, K.C. Venugopal, went one step further. "We can even do without an election in Kerala by coming to an agreement on who should be the MP to be sent to New Delhi from each of the 20 constituencies in the State," he said.

Politics figured quite prominently in the speeches of the members on either side, though the business to be transacted in the Assembly was financial in nature. The UDF MLAs taunted the CPI(M) by making several postulations on what could be the outcome of the ongoing ideological fight within that party over the concept of an apolitical `fourth world' that was mooted by one section in the CPI(M). The LDF MLAs, on their part, had a handy topic in K. Karunakaran's standoff with the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, and the prospect of the former's son, K. Muraleedharan, soon becoming a member of the Cabinet. The CPI(M) MLA, Raju Abraham, said it was an unhealthy practice for the Government to present a supplementary demand for such a large sum as Rs. 6,600 crores. Underestimating the expenses by such a big extent was a sure sign of the budget having lost its sanctity, he said.

The Congress MLA, George J. Mathew, said the Government should take care to take loans only for productive purposes. From 1997, the trend in Kerala was to run the entire Plan programmes on borrowed funds.

The IUML MLA, C.T. Ahammed Ali, said the amount earmarked for the Public Works Department in the budget for 2004-05 was far too inadequate. He said the Government should try to settle the payment dues to the contractors at the earliest.

The Kerala Congress(M) MLA, Roshy Augustine, spoke of the immense tourism potential of Idukki district. He wanted the Government to work out a strategy for tapping the potential by working out a master plan for Thekkady, Munnar and Painavu. The CPI legislative party leader, K.P. Rajendran, said the supplementary demands reflected the wrong priorities of the Government. Large sums were being requisitioned for purchasing vehicles. Both he and the Kerala Congress (George) MLA, P. C. George, said that increasing the Ministerial berth by inducting Mr. Muraleedharan into the Cabinet would mean still higher expenses for the Government.

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