Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Sunday that the Union Finance Minister was forced to answer questions on allocation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue to the State.

Though largely misleading, the answers have been forced out of the Union Minister against the backdrop of the massive response to the Navakerala Sadas. It was clear that through events such as Navakerala Sadas, people were seized of the deficiencies in Central fund allocation out of the collected GST, said Mr. Vijayan at the inauguration of Navakerala Sadas at Perumbavoor on Sunday.

The event at Perumbavoor was postponed following the death of Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Kanam Rajendran on Friday. It was earlier scheduled for Sunday morning at the Government Boys’ Higher Secondary School but commenced around 3 p.m. The school ground in the heart of the town was filled to capacity.

The Chief Minister said the common agenda for the Navakerala Sadas was how to take Kerala’s development forward. With this question in mind, it is now obvious that the Centre is raising hurdles before the State. Answering the State’s questions, the Union government is spreading fiction. Claims that the State was receiving 100% share from GST and 50% share from IGST were false, the Chief Minister claimed. He said the promise of 14% annual growth had not been fulfilled and the compensation for GST loss had been withdrawn.

Fisheries Minister Saji Cherian said the Navakerala Sadas laid a strong foundation for a modern Kerala. The mass contact programme was bringing all groups of people together for the State’s development, he said.

Registration Minister V.N. Vasavan said Kerala was providing an alternative to the programme of denial of rights to people and violation of secular ideals. He said when the government came out to meet the people, there had been a massive response. He also listed a number of programmes that were at the centre of Kerala’s development.

Transport Minister Antony Raju said the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government was carrying out unparalleled developmental works in the State. Over the past seven years, developmental activities were at full steam, and the re-election of the LDF government was a measure of people’s confidence in it, he added.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/union-finance-minister-forced-to-answer-questions-on-gst-revenue-sharing-says-cm/article67624361.ece