Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Hassan: budget ignored infrastructure

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesman M.M. Hassan has the State budget for 2007-08 has ignored infrastructure development.

In a statement here on Sunday, he said the budget failed to address people's problems such as unemployment, price rise and poverty.

While the tax on life saving medicines would affect the poor, the increase in tax on textiles and cess on bus fares would hit the common man. The claim that the revenue earned from such increases would be used for specific purposes aimed at helping the port was intended to hoodwink the public, Mr. Hassan said.

He said that several of the budget proposals were based on Centrally-sponsored programmes.

However, Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac had chosen to criticise the Centre to please his party workers.

The Financial Enterprises Employees Association demanded that the budget proposal to introduce a service charge on `chitties' run by the public sector Kerala State Financial Enterprises (KSFE) should be withdrawn.

Association leaders Xavier Thomas, K.N. Haridasan and P.S. Suraj said in a statement that the proposal, which exempted the private chitty operators from the charge, would only help the growth of private sector.

It would push the enterprises into losses, they contended.

However, the KSFE Officers Union said the Minister had proposed several measures such as the opening of 125 braches that would promote the growth of the enterprises.

Welcoming the budget proposals, union general secretary A.M. Farook recalled that previous Government had planned to close down public sector units such as the KSFE.

Lathin Catholic Aikyavedi said the budget ignored the Latin Catholics. Aikyavedi president Tony Oliver said the Finance Minister had virtually rejected the Fisheries Minister S. Sarma's announcement that 100 new Matsya Bhavans would be started this year.

This was the result of sectionalism in the CPI (M).

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