Thiruvananthapuram: With Assembly polls just
months away, the LDF Government in Kerala today presented a people-centric Budget with a focus to welfare measures, price-control programmes and infrastructure development.
Besides raising the minimum welfare pension to Rs 400,
Finance Minister T M Isaac Thomas, who presented the Budget in
the Assembly, unveiled a new pension scheme for domestic
aides, the majority of whom are women.
The Budget for 2011-12 also proposed measures to
strengthen the social security net for below poverty line
(BPL) sections, bringing four million families under a free
insurance scheme.
Seeking to insulate the poor from the impact of price
rise, 40 lakh families will be provided rice at Rs 2 a kg.
Stepping up the state-subsidised distribution network, 3,000
ration shops across the state would be made franchisees of the
state Civil Supplies Corporation, through which a variety of
food articles and basic provisions would be provided.
It also proposed a special package for improving roads
and building new links throughout the state, where polls are
due in May.
The Budget made special provisions for improving
amenities in five major cities, including the state capital.
Under this, Thiruvananthapuram will get Rs 250 crore, Kochi Rs
202 crore, Kozhikode Rs 180 crore, Thrissur Rs 142 crore and
Kollam Rs 120 crore.
PTI
