By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, JULY 2016: THE development bug has hit one and all.

States have now realized that it is better to frame policies keeping in mind the pulse of the populace.

Gone are the days when blame game was the order of the day.

A newly elected government is meant to satisfy the aspirations of the voters.

And, it seems that precisely with this line of thinking the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government has presented its first budget.

Kerala Finance Minister Dr. Thomas Isaac yesterday attempted to bring to the state the vision which Keralites felt was long overdue.

Obviously, with the precarious financial position that the State government finds itself in, the need lay in improving the efficiency in tax collection and increase automation not only in tax administration but overall functioning of the various arms of the government.

In the almost three hour long budget speech (2 hrs 57 minutes beating the record of Oommen Chandy who spoke for 2 hours and 54 minutes), the longest in the history of the assembly, the finance Minister outlined the LDF government's policy of sticking to welfare measures despite the shaky finances.

Nonetheless, if GST Bill is passed in the monsoon session of the Parliament, it will hugely benefit Kerala as GST is a destination tax and Kerala is a destination state for most of the goods. It is also emphasised in the budget that Check-posts in Kerala will continue even if GST is enforced.

The Finance Minister began his budget presentation by reciting the  words  of Sree Narayana Guru& ended his speech by rendering the lines of the poem 'Dinaantam' [The end of the day] by the late poet ONV Kurup.

Below are the budget highlights -

What it seeks to achieve:

+ A 9-fold plan to improve tax revenue

+ Budget eyes to increase tax revenue by 25 per cent

Money to come from:

+ 14 per cent tax on burger and pizza

+ Ready-to-eat chapathis to cost more as 5 per cent tax on wheat products in packets

+ Basmati rice

+ 20 per cent tax for disposable plastic

+ Garments to get costlier as 2 per cent tax imposed

+ Fat tax imposed on food chain restaurants

+ 10 per cent tax on freight vehicles

+ Green tax for old vehicles

Money to be Spent on:

Infrastructure:

+ Rs 5,000 crore for various infrastructure projects

+ Rs 385 crore for 17 by-passes

+ Rs 2,800 crore to construct 138 roads

+ Rs 50 crore earmarked for Sabari rail project

+ Kochi-Coimbatore hi-tech corridor announced, Rs 1,000 crore envisaged for land procurement this year

+ Alappuzha to get mobility hub

+ Project report on high-speed rail corridor project completed

+ Road and water ways project to be interlinked

+ Petrol pumps, bus stations to have fresh-up stations which will act as public rest rooms

Agriculture:

+ Rs 385 crore allotted for paddy procurement

+ Rs 50 crore to boost paddy cultivation

+ Data bank of agricultural land to be created

+ Rs 100 crore for coconut procurement

+ Coconut, spices and agro parks to be set up across the state

+ Rs 100 crore for cashew farming sector

+ Boost coir sector

Social welfare:

+ Rs 1000 crore for implementing medical insurance

+ All laborers above 60 to get pension

+ All social welfare pensions to be made Rs 1,000

+ Health care scheme for workers under NREP

+ Rs 50 crore for Kudumbashree projects

+ Rs 10 crore allotted for Endosulfan victims

+ 3 cent land to be provided to all home-less people

+ Rs 100 crore allotted mental health center in Kozhikode

+ Rs 1,000 crore for modernization of all taluk, district and general hospitals

Education:

+ Free uniforms for students of all government aided schools from standard 1 to 8

+ Rs 500 crore for modernization of government schools

+ Rs 500 crore for Arts and Science colleges

+ 1000 schools of international standard to be set up in 5 years

+ Rs 100 crore allotted for Model residential schools

+ Special education concessions announced for transgenders

+ Schools to have girl-friendly toilets

+ Rs 20 crore for schools for differently-abled

+ 1,300 first grade libraries to get free Wi-Fi

Tourism:

+ Private investment in tourism sector to get a boost

+ Rs 400 crore for improving conditions of tourism spots

+ Rs 100 crore for Alappuzha, Thalassery heritage tourism project

+ Rs 200 crore allotted to set up rope-way in Ponmudi

Other welfare measures:

+ Adivasis to be allotted 1 acre land

+ Rs 10 lakh each to rehabilitate Vizhinjam port project affected people

+ Budget promises home for all in five years

+ Budget envisages to create a law for migrant laborers

+ Rs 12,000 crore package to tide over economic crisis

It's indeed a herculean task for the LDF government, but, as they say, nothing is Impossible if you have the will.