Kochi (Kerala) [India], March 1 (ANI): Reacting to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman‘s comment over Kerala Budget and Kerala infrastructure investment fund board (KIIFB), state Finance Minister TM Thomas Issac on Sunday said she should have realized that the dignity of the position eroded when she delivers such speech without understanding.
Thomas Issac wrote a Facebook post after Sitharaman in Kochi alleged the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government in Kerala of giving all the budget money to KIIFB.
“Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman should have realized that the dignity of the position she holds is being eroded when she automatically reads (without understanding) what someone has written. She was talking nonsense about KIIFB and the state budget. Not only did she not do her homework at all, but her remarks proved that she had no idea what was being said. The Union Minister should not regret for which I am saying openly that Shame on You,” Issac wrote on Facebook.
State Finance Minister also described KIIFB and said it is a system set up to mobilize resources outside the budget.
“KIIFB is a system set up to mobilize resources outside the budget. The CAG’s criticism was that KIIFB revenue and expenditure were not part of the budget. When the criticism reached Nirmala Sitharaman, that came to the fore. All I can say is that no matter who wrote this speech, the Union Finance Minister should not have been fooled like this. A quality and serious approach is expected from that position,” he said.
Union Finance Minister yesterday lashed out at Kerala government over the state budget and accused it for giving all the budget money to KIIFB.
“Kerala budget was presented and all the money is given to KIIFB. I do not know what budget they are making if all the money is given to one organisation,” the Finance Minister said during ‘Vijaya Yathra’ in Kochi.
Sitharaman accuses Kerala government of giving entire budget money to KIIFB
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday lashed out at the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government in Kerala over the state budget and accused it for giving all the budget money to Kerala infrastructure investment fund board (KIIFB).
“Kerala budget was presented and all the money is given to KIIFB. I do not know what budget they are making if all the money is given to one organisation,” the Finance Minister said during ‘Vijaya Yathra’ in Kochi.
Sitharaman also said that in Union Budget they do not give all the money to one particular organisation.
“We make a budget in Union government. We do not give all the money to one organisation and say thik hai, dekhte hai (Ok. let’s see). Comptroller and Auditor General has criticized it. If this is budget making, no wonder Kerala is going into a debt trap. It is a questionable affair, corruption,” she alleged.
Mentioning the law and order condition in Kerala, the Finance Minister said that whatever is happening here is cause for severe concern in the state.
“Everyone knows Kerala is God’s own country. But whatever is happening here is cause for severe concern. There is no law and order. I can go on elaborating things that are going against law and order of peaceful, beautiful state like Kerala,” Sitharaman said here.
“I ask Chief Minister that is this God’s own country or is this CPI(M) violent culture, also spread in West Bengal. You are doing it here for several years. I am afraid to say that God’s own country is now gradually becoming Fundamentalists’ own country and the government is not worried,” she added. (ANI)
