Explore Business Standard
Kerala
LDF convener T P Ramakrishnan on Saturday demanded that the Centre immediately withdraw its direction given to discontinue the additional incentive bonus provided by the Kerala government for paddy procurement. In a statement, Ramakrishnan said the Union Finance Ministry's Expenditure Secretary has written to the state chief secretary seeking withdrawal of the additional bonus given by states. The Centre has taken the stand that the additional incentive leads to excess procurement of wheat and rice across the country, creating a financial burden on the public exchequer, he said. According to him, the letter also states that the additional bonus encourages higher cultivation of foodgrains and leads to increased production. Ramakrishnan alleged that such an intervention would weaken the country's food self-sufficiency. The state government provides an additional incentive of Rs 6.31 per kg for paddy procurement, he said, adding that the Centre's share is often not released on time,
Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal on Friday presented the budget for the financial year 2026-27, announcing allocation of Rs 14,500 crore for social security pensions and hiking honorariums for ASHA and Anganwadi workers. Presenting the second Pinarayi Vijayan-led government's sixth budget in the Legislative Assembly, Balagopal announced that the honorarium of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and Anganwadi workers has been hiked by Rs 1,000 per month and that of Anganwadi helpers by Rs 500. The pay of pre-primary teachers and literacy mission motivators has been increased by Rs 1,000 per month and the daily wages of school cooking staff have been raised by Rs 25 per day, he said. The budget also announced Rs 3,700 crore for the Chief Minister's Stree Suraksha Scheme.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday targeted the Centre, saying the spirit of the Constitution and democratic values were facing unprecedented challenges, and called for unity to defend secularism and federalism on the occasion of Republic Day. Extending Republic Day greetings, Vijayan said in a Facebook post that the day renewed the proud memories of India becoming a sovereign, democratic republic, even as conscious attempts were being made to undermine the principles of secularism and federalism enshrined in the Constitution. He said the Constitution was not merely a legal document, but the soul of the idea of India that celebrates diversity and guarantees equal justice. The chief minister said the occasion called for vigilance against forces attempting to weaken the vision of "unity in diversity" and impose a monolithic ideology. "The federal concept of a strong Centre with empowered states is facing serious challenges. We should stand together against policies that
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has again written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to direct waiver of loans availed by the victims of the Mundakkai-Chooralmala disaster in Wayanad, the party said on Saturday. The Congress MP has also urged the PM to convert the loans given to the state for disaster relief work as grants, it said in a statement. It further said that after Wayanad did not receive any central assistance related to the Mundakkai-Chooralmala landslides, all the Kerala MPs had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in person in December 2024. Subsequently, in February 2025, Priyanka had written to the PM pointing out that providing money as a loan for rehabilitation six months after the landslides was "unjust and inhumane", the statement said. She had also requested the PM to waive the loans of the jeep and autorickshaw drivers, small traders and homestay operators who had lost their means of livelihood in the disaster, it said. The Congress MP had again made th
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said it was time to bid farewell to the "corrupt" DMK government in Tamil Nadu as he kick-started the NDA campaign for the assembly elections in the next few months. "Tamil Nadu is with NDA! I'll be joining NDA leaders at the rally in Madhuranthakam later today," Modi said in a post on X. "Tamil Nadu has decided that it's time to bid farewell to the corrupt DMK Government," the prime minister said. Modi said the NDA's governance record and commitment to regional aspirations were striking a chord with the people of the state. NDA leaders, including the major constituent, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, will participate in the mega poll rally at Madhuranthakam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in the Kerala state capital on Friday to launch various developmental projects and flag off new train services in the poll-bound state, with the BJP planning a grand welcome, including a massive road show, for him. Modi will flag off four new train services, including three Amrit Bharat Express trains, to enhance regional rail connectivity between Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. In addition to that, he will lay the foundation stone for a CSIR-NIIST Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship Hub in Thiruvananthapuram and launch the PM SVANidhi Credit Card -- UPI-linked, interest-free revolving credit facility. Besides these, he will also lay the foundation stone for a state-of-the-art Radiosurgery Centre at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology here and inaugurate the new Poojappura Head Post Office. As this is Modi's first visit after the BJP won the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation
The budget session of the Kerala assembly commenced on Tuesday with Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar reading out the Left government's policy which claimed that the state was under financial "pressures" due to the economic "curtailments" placed on it by the state. In his policy address marking the commencement of the 16th session of the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly, Arlekar said due to the restrictions on the state's borrowing limits and adjustments to the Integrated Goods and Services Tax, led to it being denied Rs 17,000 crore in the 2025-26 financial year. Besides that, it suffered a further "loss" of Rs 4,250 crore due to the "Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) methodology "which deviates from the accepted recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission", he said. Arlekar said that it has raised these concerns before the central government. The concerns raised by Kerala also include the "excessive centralisation of powers" and the union government's "interventions" in t
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi did not appear before the MP-MLA court here on Monday in connection with a defamation case against him, following which the court fixed February 20 as the next date of hearing, a case lawyer said. Gandhi, the Raebareli MP, was scheduled to record his statement before the court. However, his counsel Kashi Prasad Shukla informed the court that the Congress leader could not be present as he was in Kerala. Taking note of the submission, MP-MLA court judge Shubham Verma granted Gandhi a final opportunity to appear in person and fixed February 20 for further proceedings, he said. Shukla later told reporters that Gandhi was unable to attend the hearing due to a pre-engagement in Kerala and was likely to be present on the next date. The defamation case was filed in October 2018 by local BJP functionary Vijay Mishra, a resident of Hanumanganj in Kotwali Dehat area of Sultanpur district. Mishra alleged that during electio
VACB has detected corruption and widespread irregularities in the KSEB during 'Operation Short Circuit', a state-level surprise inspection conducted to unearth malpractices in the utility, officials said on Saturday. The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) in a statement said the 'Operation Short Circuit' was conducted based on information received regarding large-scale irregularities, corruption, and nepotism in the awarding of contracts of Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) with the connivance of officials. Similarly, the bureau received information that some officials were accepting bribes in the form of commissions from contractors and clearing bills without proper inspection of works. The inspection was carried out at 70 selected electrical section offices across the state, from 10.30 am onwards on Friday. The contract works executed by KSEB over the past five years were subjected to scrutiny, VACB said. During the inspections, Vigilance found that 41 officials acro
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday accused the BJP-led Centre of subjecting the state to "financial discrimination" and alleged that arbitrary cuts in grants and borrowing limits were aimed at "economically strangulating" it. The Centre is trying to "snatch away" the constitutionally guaranteed rights of Kerala, a move that has no place in a democratic country, he claimed. The CM was speaking while leading a day-long Satyagraha protest here against the union government, accusing it of "political vengeance" and "bias" in denying the state its rightful financial allocations. Addressing the gathering, he said the state was being forced into an extraordinary struggle to protect its constitutionally guaranteed rights. Vijayan urged everyone to stand united to ensure that Kerala received its due share. "Our state is in the midst of a struggle. This is a struggle for the survival of this land and its people. Believing that all authority rests in their hands, the rulers at t
Opposition Congress on Sunday accused the CPI(M)-led state government of carrying out political activities by "misusing" money from the state exchequer under the pretext of seeking public opinion on development issues. Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan, alleged that the government was spending crores of rupees on the propaganda using party volunteers keeping an eye on the upcoming assembly polls. He warned the government of legal and political action if the said exercise was not withdrawn. "The Kerala government is carrying out election-related activities by spending crores of rupees under the pretext of seeking public opinion on development issues," Satheesan alleged. By spending money from the state exchequer, party members are being made volunteers and sent for a door-to-door campaign with pamphlets highlighting the government's "achievements," he further alleged. "We have no objection to them carrying out election activities using their party machinery. But
CPI(M) leader A K Balan on Saturday said if the Congress-led UDF comes to power in Kerala with the backing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, it will result in the "destruction of the state". Balan, at a press conference held here, said that he will keep repeating this warning again and again. The CPI(M) also held up a copy of the 'Quran' and said it talks about 'munafiks' who are "fake believers". "I am not that. I am a believer and a communist who is loyal to the workers," he said and added that if he is sent to jail for defamation over his remarks about the Jamaat-e-Islami, the first thing he would do is finish reading the Quran. He was speaking to reporters in the wake of a legal notice sent to him by the Jamaat-e-Islami and the vehement criticism against him by Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan over the CPI(M) veteran's remarks linking the UDF with the religious organisation. Satheesan had termed Balan's remarks as "dangerous and communal". The Jamaat-e-Islami, t
Students trudging to school burdened with a heavy backpack and the presence of 'backbenchers', often associated with children who don't engage in studies, were accepted scenarios in the education sector, but maybe not for long in Kerala. A draft report proposing a reduction in weight of school bags and creating classrooms without 'backbenchers' has been approved by the State Curriculum Steering Committee, General Education Minister V Sivankutty has said in a statement. According to him, the aim behind the proposals is to ensure the physical and mental happiness of children by reducing the weight of the bags they carry to school and to create a learning environment without 'backbenchers' as part of "democratisation" of classrooms. The minister further said that the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) was tasked to study these proposals in detail and the draft report prepared by it has been approved by the committee. Sivankutty, in the statement, said it has be