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The Kerala Finance Minister, Mr K. M. Mani, has introduced a Bill to amend the Kerala Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2003, seeking to wipe out the revenue deficit by a newly fixed timeline of 2014-15.
The State Assembly on Thursday proceeded to refer the Bill to its Subject Committee after a three-hour discussion on the same.
CENTRAL ASSISTANCE
Introducing the Bill, the Finance Minister said the achievement of the milestone target would entitle the State Government to a Central assistance of Rs 1,935 crore from 2011-12 to 2014-15.
The aim was to achieve fiscal discipline as set out by the 13th finance Commission prescriptions and enable the State to make a valid claim for debt relief on offer from the Centre.
The Bill proposes to bring down the revenue deficit to 1.4 per cent of the State Domestic Product during the current financial year itself.
TARGETED REDUCTION
Further reductions envisaged are 0.9 per cent by 2012-13, 0.5 per cent by 2013-14, and zero by 2014-15, the Minister said.
The fiscal deficit is sought to be brought to the level of 3.5 per cent during the current financial year, and reducing it to three per cent by 2013-14.
The Bill also aims to cut down the State's total liabilities to 29.8 per cent over the next four-year period.
LABOUR CAMPS
The State Government proposes to set up exclusive camps for migrant labourers in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.
This was stated by the Labour Minister, Mr Shibu Baby John, in the State Assembly. While stating this in a reply to questions, the Minister said the camps would provide all needed facilities to workers.
The Department of Labour has issued labour cards to 18,000 migrant workers. At least one lakh cards are proposed to be within a year.
The State Government is planning to engage the students of Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam colleges for conducting a survey to collect statistics on migrant labour.
JOB ASPIRANTS
Separately, the Minister said that the number of job aspirants in the State registered during six years from 2005 has been estimated at a little above 43 lakh.
The Minister for Industries and Information Technology, Mr P. K. Kunhalikutty, told the House that 148 Government websites were broken into until March 2009.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr K. P. Mohanan, said that the total outlay for the Idukki package was Rs 765 crore.
The State Government has submitted projects worth Rs 391 crore, of which projects for Rs 234 crore have been approved.
STABILITY FUND
A proposal for setting up a price stability fund for Rs 250 crore has been pending with the Centre.
The Minister for Cooperation, Mr C. N. Balakrishnan, said that cooperative banks in the State have sanctioned education loans worth Rs 1,762.73 crore to 1,451 students during 2010-11. As many as 1,693 cooperative societies are running in loss, the Minister added.
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