Thiruvananthapuram :The first budget of LDF’s continued rule will be presented in the Assembly by Finance Minister KN Balagopal tomorrow. Since the governance is a renewed one, the budget presented in January will stand only a bit revised this time. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said the earlier budget does not warrant much change as the governance is only a continued one.
However, given the second wave conditions, there would be considerable change in the priority and budget allocation for Covid. The last budget of the previous government aimed to revive the state’s economy rendered static by the pandemic. With ongoing second wave, the state has gone under lockdown once again. The revised budget will allocate a larger chunk to the health sector to cope up. The Covid third wave is likely to hit in October owing to which, a higher allocation for Covid mitigation is deemed essential. It would also be necessary to continue providing welfare benefits to people who have lost their livelihoods to the pandemic. The budget is also expected to address measures to revive the economy. The Finance Minister had hinted it is essential to provide people with money to keep sales moving.
The changes to Budget will reflect and uphold goals envisaged by the manifesto. LDF had put forth 900 promises to be fulfilled in 5-year period. The revised Budget will address projects that would be worked out during this year.
