Central aid or not, will proceed with rehab plan

AFTER presenting the last full budget of the second Pinarayi Vijayan government, Finance Minister K N Balagopal spoke to TNIE, elaborating on his decision to eschew a populist approach in favour of fiscal well-being.

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @T'Puram

He also emphasised the importance of formulating a more sustainable model for KIIFB and threw light on the government's plan to proceed with the rehabilitation of Wayanad landslide victims.

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How can you justify the increase in land tax? The UDF has already raised objections.

The increase will have minimal impact on common people. Although a 50% hike sounds significant percentage-wise, a person with 10 cents of land will only pay an additional ₹10, thereby raising the annual tax from ₹20 to ₹30. We haven't properly addressed the issue for the past 50 years, and Kerala currently has the lowest land tax in the country. We must consider that the government has invested ₹900 crore for the modernisation and digitisation of village offices alone.