Thiruvananthapuram | CPI(M) leader K N Balagopal on Thursday accused the UDF of "misleading" the public about the state's financial position, saying the White Paper tabled in the Assembly by Chief Minister V D Satheesan had exposed several claims made by the opposition in recent years.
Reacting to the findings in the White Paper, the former Finance minister said Satheesan, while serving as Leader of the Opposition, had repeatedly claimed that Kerala's debt had crossed Rs 6 lakh crore.
"Even when the LDF government presented figures showing otherwise, he continued to repeat the claim. Now the White Paper itself states that Kerala's total debt is around Rs 5 lakh crore. This proves that our figures were correct," Balagopal told reporters here.
The Kottarakkara MLA also rejected allegations that the state owed more than Rs 1 lakh crore to government employees.
According to Balagopal, the White Paper shows that the total amount payable, including dearness allowance arrears, is around Rs 48,000 crore.
"The narrative that Kerala had a debt of Rs 6 lakh crore and owed over Rs 1 lakh crore to employees was spread across the state. The figures in the White Paper itself show that these claims were incorrect," he said.
Balagopal further alleged that the White Paper had failed to explain the reasons behind Kerala's financial difficulties. He argued that the document did not adequately highlight the reduction in central grants and other financial support to the state.
"In 2021, Kerala received about Rs 33,000 crore in grants from the Centre. Last year, it came down to Rs 7,000 crore. After the introduction of GST, the state's share of taxes also declined. These factors have had a major impact on Kerala's finances, but they have not been properly reflected in the White Paper," he said.
The former minister also claimed that the real objective behind the White Paper was to justify the privatisation of public sector assets.
"There are moves to privatise sectors such as electricity, ports, airports and mineral sand resources. There are also attempts to increase the retirement age of government employees," he alleged.
Questioning the process followed in preparing the document, Balagopal said a White Paper containing official and confidential financial information should normally be prepared by the Finance Department itself.
"If an external committee prepares such a document, it could set a wrong precedent. The government has to explain why this process was followed," he said.
Later, in a Facebook post, Balagopal said he was "thankful" to Satheesan for placing figures in the public domain that contradicted earlier opposition claims.
He noted that the White Paper presented in the Assembly put Kerala's total debt at Rs 5.07 lakh crore, including the figures for the current financial year, and stated that total arrears payable, including those due to government employees, stood at around Rs 48,000 crore.
Balagopal said that with the figures now officially available, Satheesan should apologise to the people of Kerala for what he described as a misleading campaign regarding the state's debt and liabilities.