"The Union Finance Minister, who came to the state recently, said that the states should take permission from the Union government on welfare measures implemented in the state.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday attacked the Union government and said the BJP-led dispensation ensures the welfare of the corporates alone. Lashing out at the Centre, Vijayan said it need not control the state government over the welfare measures being implemented for the people of the state.
Vijayan said the state government's ideology on welfare measures were different from that of the Union government. "The Union Finance Minister, who came to the state recently, said that the states should take permission from the Union government on welfare measures implemented in the state.
The Left government will not submit to the Union government's threats on welfare measures," Vijayan said during the inauguration of the new office for the treasury department here. Vijayan said the policies of the Centre and state government are entirely different.
"The welfare policy of the state government is different from that of the Union government. While the Centre ensures the welfare of the corporates alone, Kerala is engaged in ensuring the welfare of the poor and the downtrodden in the society and we will continue with that," Vijayan said.
During an event here on November 5, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that indiscriminate borrowing and spending by certain states on non-merit goods and expenditure was a matter of concern.
She had said that as per the Constitution, the Centre can discuss with and question the states on borrowing but many of them see it as an interference in their space of authority. "There are new sources of risks every state is facing. The temptation to spend on non-merit goods... The tendency to get into such not-so-viable, non-merit expenditure is very high in some States," Sitharaman had said.
Chief Minister Vijayan said: "The Centre, which asks the state not to borrow funds, currently has a foreign liability of Rs 49 lakh crore. This year alone, an amount of Rs 3.60 lakh crore was borrowed from outside. We are borrowing the funds for the welfare of the state and the people of the state."
The Centre is providing funds for the states which are close to the Union government, Vijayan alleged.
(With PTI Inputs)