Kerala's election-eve budget 2001-02 showed an uncovered deficit of Rs 398.09 crore, with no fresh imposts or major welfare schemes. LDF government's sixth and last budget which showed a revenue gap of Rs 2052.42 crore, presented in the state assembly by the Finance minister T Sivadasan Menon, had its thrust on education, with a record Rs 2969 crore earmarked for it.

Menon also presented a vote on account for the first three months of the next financial year. He devoted a major portion of his speech to criticise the fiscal policies of the Centre, even while admitting that the state had run into a huge public debt of Rs 20,176 crore, as on March 31 last year.

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The budget laid emphasis on what Menon called sunrise sectors like information technology and tourism, besides continued development of power, transport and service sectors. Reiterating the LDF's commitment to the downtrodden, he announced a welfare fund for automobile workshop labourers, old age homes for handloom workers, festival bonus for fish workers and two instalments of DA for government employees.
Various tax concessions announced last year for farmers, including coffee, tea and cashew growers, would continue.
Menon claimed that initiatives in industry would generate 89,000 jobs through an investment of Rs 500 crore in 21,000 SSI units. The Congress-led UDF opposition said the budget lacked vision and was a clear admission of the 'fiscal mismanagement' by the LDF government in the last five years.

Bureau Report