In perhaps a first-of its-kind move in the country, Kerala has proposed a “Fat Tax” on fast food items like burgers, pizzas, donuts, sandwiches and pasta served in branded restaurants in a bid to discourage the junk food culture.
The first Budget of the CPI(M)-led lDF Government presented in the State Assembly on Friday by economist Finance Minister TM Thomas Isaac hoped to add an estimated Rs10 crore to the State Exchequer through the 14.5-per cent Fat Tax proposed on junk food items, cheering health workers involved in campaigns against the alleged obesity-inducing food items.
“leading restaurant chains may not like the idea as it is quite possible that they may face a drop in guests in the cities of Kerala where the junk food culture is spreading fast, but Isaac’s move may act as a practical step in controlling obesity, especially among the youngsters of big cities like Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode,” said a wellness expert based in Kochi.
However, voluntary health workers said the junk food culture is not confined to the big cities where the eminent food chain outlets operate. “These items are available on the sides of all the national highways and important State highways. But this is sure to have some impact,” said Sudha Nair, a Central Government employee, who is fed up with her son’s ‘burger craze’.
The pro-green Finance Minister did not stop there. His (revised) Budget 2016-17 also proposed 20-per cent tax on disposable tumblers made of plastic, which has become a huge waste management problem. He also proposed 5-per cent tax for packaged food products among other proposals aimed at adding a total of Rs805 crore to the cash-thirsty Treasury.
Thomas Isaac presented the revised finance document for the fiscal in the State Assembly seeking to give a big push to development of infrastructure with extra-budgetary resources while trying to take the crisis-hit State finances to a safer zone but taking care to provide succour to the weaker sections of the society.
One of the major announcements in the Budget was a Rs 12,000-crore stimulus package to fight the economic slowdown by undertaking ambitious infrastructure development projects.
In accordance with the Government’s declared commitment to protect environment, a Green Tax would be imposed on vehicles older than 10 years. Public toilets would be built at public spaces across the State, the budget said. The Minister claimed that the goal was to declare Kerala as the cleanest State in the entire country by November 1, the Kerala State Formation Day.
On the welfare front, the Budget proposed hiking of all pensions to Rs 1,000 starting this month. Isaac also announced a pension scheme for transgenders above the age of 60 years. There would be controls on expenses and appointments for two years but this would not be applicable in the case of hospitals and welfare, the Minister said.
Making clear the determination of the lDF Government headed by Marxist CM Pinarayi Vijayan, which assumed office after the May 16 election, to fulfil the front’s promises in the manifesto, Isaac’s Budget announced that a special department would be constituted for Women’s Welfare, a demand that had gone unheeded so far.
“I also propose to install solar power panels at houses across Kerala which would generate 1,000 MW of power,” Isaac said adding that solar panels would be installed at all Government offices in the State. There was a plan to produce energy-efficient light sources like lED bulbs in public sector and an out-of-function factory in Alappuzha district was being considered for this, he said.
The Budget put forward a plan to make all buses of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) CNG-based. An allocation of Rs 300 crore would be made for having 1,000 CNG-run KSRTC buses based in Kochi.