Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Government neglecting capital, says Sivakumar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: V. S. Sivakumar, president of the District Congress Committee (DCC), Thiruvananthapuram, has registered his protest over the non-allocation of any funds in the budget for setting up a Bench of the High Court in the capital city.

A press note issued here said the government, if it had any sincerity on this issue, would have set apart money for the Bench particularly at this time when an agitation is going on over this issue.

The government has dithered over completing the formalities for setting up a Bench of the High Court here. It is high time that the government submitted an application to the Centre after a decision on this matter is taken by the Cabinet and the Assembly. However, the government has taken no creative measure on this front and has only indulged in verbal jugglery.

When a demand arose for setting up a High Court Bench in Madurai, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu immediately allocated Rs.65 lakh in the State budget for this purpose.

As in the case of the High Court Bench, the budget has only disappointment to offer the capital city. No funds have been allocated for schemes initiated during the tenure of the United Democratic Front (UDF) government. The harbour department had requested for Rs.150 crore for setting up infrastructure facilities for the proposed harbour at Vizhinjam. The budget allocation is only one sixth this amount. If at least Rs.100 crore is not sanctioned for this project, it cannot be taken forward.

Not a single rupee has been set apart for the capital region development scheme initiated by the UDF government. Similarly, no money has been set apart for acquiring land for the second stage of construction of the new international terminal at the city’s airport, the press note said.

The DCC would organise a people’s movement against the neglect of the capital in the budget, the press note added.

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