Kerala budget 2021 live updates: 1.5 lakh houses to be constructed under LIFE mission

Gender budgeting, one of the core features of Kerala budget is going strong with each passing year, stated the economic review. In 2020-21, Rs 1,509.33 crore has been provided for women specific schemes and an amount of Rs 2,300.54 cr for composite schemes has been made available for women. A total Rs 3,809.87 crore constitutes the gender budget for 2020-21, which is 18.4% of the total state plan outlay, said the review.

The education and health sectors in the state have undergone tremendous changes in the past four years, the economic review report prepared by the State Planning Board noted. The schools in the state witnessed a huge infrastructure upgradation and as many as 141 higher secondary schools were made ‘centres of excellence’ using the KIIFB fund of Rs.5 crore each.

There has been a drastic 65% reduction in the transfer of money to Kerala from overseas through authorized foreign exchange dealers from Jan to May in 2020. Commenting on the trend, state planning board vice-chairman VK Ramachandran said it was an indicator of the impact of Covid-19 on nonresident Keralites.

Tourism is one of the sectors which has been deeply hit by the pandemic, said the economic review report. During the pandemic, the sector incurred a loss of up to Rs 25,000 crore. As a result, the government had announced a Covid-19 loss assistance scheme to support the stakeholders in the tourism industry for the revival of the sector. The pandemic had brought business of all tourism stakeholders to a standstill affecting the livelihood of entrepreneurs as well as employees in the industry. As per industry feedback, this situation may extend for six more months.

The economic review 2020 tabled in the legislative assembly on Thursday listed the adverse impact of three acts — Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020 — enacted by the Centre.

Finance minister TM Thomas Isaac – who introduced a revival plan for KIIFB and announced a Rs 25,000 crore development project under the fund as an outof-the-box idea in his first budget in 2016 – is set to wind up his innings with another major announcement that will address the unemployment issue faced by educated youth of the state.