Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Use funds early: Isaac

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac said in the Assembly on Thursday that there would not be any restriction on drawing budgeted funds any time during the financial year.

Replying to the Kerala Appropriation (No. 3) Bill pertaining to supplementary demands for grants, the Minister said the funds could be used early in the financial year. The members of the House should be monitoring execution of schemes in their constituencies to prevent crowding of works towards the end of the financial year.

Dr. Isaac said that an impact budget pertaining to implementation of budget proposals could not be presented to the House as envisaged earlier, as the administration lacked the capacity to do the work. The Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (formerly Centre for Taxation Studies) in Thiruvananthapuram would be able to help in capacity-building. The Centre had sanctioned Rs. 20 crore for development of the centre as a research institute named after the late I.S. Gulati.

He suggested that construction of an office complex for the Government, according to approved designs, by private agencies should be debated, as the Government was short of funds to build mini civil stations and offices. The building thus constructed could be rented by the Government.

After the Minister’s reply, the House passed the Bill for 60 votes to 15.

Earlier, the House passed the Kerala Promotion of Tree Growth in Non-forest Areas (Amendment) Bill, as reported by the Subject Committee, which proposes to promote planting of trees.

Replying to the debate on the Bill, Forest Minister Benoy Viswom said the Government wanted to liberalise restrictions on cutting of trees in non-forest areas. The subject committee had sought to expand the definition of smallholders of land to cover those in possession of up to one hectare. The earlier provision permitted cutting of trees by holders of up to half a hectare (provided that the tree is not among the banned).

The Minister moved official amendments for inclusion of trees such as eucalyptus and fishtail palm in the schedule of trees that could be cut from non-forest areas without permission.

Mr. Viswam said that social forestry was being cleansed of its blemishes. Nearly 25 lakh trees had been planted recently under the “My Tree” project.

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