Kerala Congress (M) chairman and state Finance Minister K M Mani stated that some policies of the Union Government would not serve good for maintaining a healthy relationship between the Union and state governments.
He was speaking to reporters at the party headquarters here on Monday after the party state committee meeting. He added that the financial policies of the Union Government would cause difficulties in the state.
He blatantly criticised the Union Government for evading its responsibilities and passing on more burden to state governments.
“When the Union Government restricted the number of subsidised LPG cylinders to six, it had, in fact, passed on the financial burden to the state governments. Moreover, the state government has already decided to do away with the additional revenue incurred on account of the increase in petroleum products,” he said. He added that a separate mechanism should be brought forth to study the impact of price hike on the economy and especially on food prices. The price hike on petroleum prices must be implemented only on the basis of such a study, he said.
The state committee meeting called for a review of the increase in price of LPG and also the decision to regulate the subsidised LPG market.Mani also urged the the Central Government to constitute a mechanism in the line of ‘ombudsman’ to look into the alleged corrupt practices in the education loan system.
He called for lifting the regulations existing in the cardamom sector and demanded establishment of a free market regime so that farmers and dealers could trade wherever they wanted. Mani also said that the Kerala Congress would organise ‘friendship meetings’ from November 1, upholding the proletarian theories of the party. Party vice-chairman and Minister for Irrigation P J Joseph was also present at the press conference.
Comments
0 comment