Centre withheld 3 months’ funds: Vijayan leads protest

KErala chief regime minister Pinarayi Vijayan on mon launched an assail on the BJP-led unification government, accusing it of squeezing the state financially and withholding ₹5,900 crore due to it in the last three months of the current financial year,The chief minister made the remarks while inaugurating a day-long “satyagraha” by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government against alleged financial blockade by the Centre at the Martyrs Memorial in Thiruvananthapuram, and attended by all state ministers, MLAs, MPs and LDF coalition leaders. Vijayan had led a similar protest in Delhi in February 2024 on the same issue.Terming the state’s fight as a ‘battle for survival’, Vijayan called for public opinion to rise against the “undemocratic approaches” of the Union government to protect federal and secular principles in the country.He alleged that the Union government’s refusal to disburse funds in various schemes unilaterally was aimed at destroying the State’s proud achievements in key sectors including health and education.The Union government was intent upon disrupting the State’s welfare schemes and making life difficult, especially for the farmers and the poor, he added.“The latest cut by the Union government is more than half the amount the State was due to receive in the last three months of the current FY. We were due to receive ₹12000 crore for the last 3 months. Of this, ₹5900 crore has been denied without any justification. The arrears of central schemes due to Kerala till September 2025 alone amount to ₹5783.69 crore,” Vijayan said and listed various schemes in which arrears are pending — ₹636.88 crore in National Health Mission (NHM), ₹750.93 crore in UGC grants, ₹1148.13 crore in Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and ₹974.68 crore in Jal Jeevan Mission and so on.“The biggest problem facing states in today’s India is the excessive concentration of power in the Union government. Many of the centralising tendencies present in the Government of India Act of 1935 still persists. Bills passed by legislative bodies are being held up indefinitely. Undemocratic measures including bringing legislation that interferes in state matters continue. Kerala is among the States which have moved the top court on the issue,” the CM said.The BJP-led government, he alleged, uses discretionary powers to lavish grants for states where it governs and imposes financial blockades on others. He alleged further that they blocked financial assistance and foreign aid during the 2018 floods and the 2024 Wayanad landslides.In the same vein, Vijayan also censured the Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) for failing to adopt a united approach against the Union government on the matter.“The opposition here has narrow political goals. It wants to derive benefits even if the state is economically constrained. It is spreading false propaganda that the financial crisis we are facing today is because of the State government’s wasteful approach. The 2023-24 report of the C&AG blunts it. It has stated very clearly that 56.29% of the borrowing in 2023-24 has been used for capital expenditure,” he claimed.At the same time, state BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar claimed that the state government’s allegations about denial of funds from the Union government came only after the CPI(M)’s defeat in the recent local body polls. He claimed that the Narendra Modi-led government gave the State ₹3.2 lakh crore between 2014-25 while the UPA government only gave ₹72000 crore.“When UPA was in power, Pinarayi Vijayan never protested. Why complain now after receiving four times more funds?” he asked.Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan ruled out any possibility of the UDF holding joint protests with the LDF.“Outside, they (LDF) hold protests and cheat the people. But inside, they have no qualms about signing MoUs and deals wherever Modi and Shah tell them to. The recent signing of the MoU on PM-Shri and the withdrawal from it makes it very clear. We will be shamed if we hold protests along with the LDF,” said Satheesan.