In what is seen as a double whammy for the CPI(M)-led Kerala Government, Plathottathil Chacko George, who served as member of the legislative Assembly for 33 years, said on Saturday that the State has fallen into a debt trap from which it would take years to recover.
“Though the Finance Minister of Kerala K N Balagopalan claims that the State has debt of only Rs 3.97 lakh crores, my studies and investigation has found that debt is more than Rs 4.97 lakh crore. The administration has failed in all rounds,” George, a specialist in the agriculture and industrial economy, told The Pioneer.
He said quoting official data that not a single industrial enterprises have opened shop in Kerala since 2016. “More than that many entrepreneurs who had set up factories that employed thousands have left Kerala for good and moved to other States like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana,” said George.
George, the law maker with an impeccable track record, pointed out that the Kerala Government instead of focusing its attention on urgent issues was more bothered about controversial missions like the 511 km long semi high speed silver line rail and Angamaly-Sabari rail projects. “Both these projects are of no use in resolving the infrastructural bottlenecks troubling the State. Deaths due to food poisoning caused by restaurants and eateries have made Kerala a dangerous place,” he said. Interestingly , the observations by George come at a time when Balagopalan is getting ready to present the State budget on February 3.
The opposition UDF led by the Congress too portrayed a gloomy picture of the State’s economy in the white paper which it released on
Saturday.