Kottayam (Kerala)

Union Minister George Kurian on Saturday alleged that Kerala was heading towards an alarming debt trap and accused the state government of avoiding central schemes and depending on borrowing to manage its finances.

Addressing reporters here, Kurian said that when the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government came to power, the state's debt stood at around Rs 1.5 lakh crore and had increased by 230 per cent over the past ten years to nearly Rs 5 lakh crore.

He alleged that while states such as Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh were efficiently utilising the union government's schemes and securing central funds, the Kerala government was taking the stand that it did not want central schemes and that borrowing alone was sufficient.

Kurian said the Narendra Modi government's commitment to all-round national development was reflected in the PM Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana, an employment-linked incentive scheme aimed at boosting job opportunities for youth and accelerating economic growth.

He said the Centre's initiatives under the Viksit Bharat vision had strengthened basic sections of society, including the expansion of employment guarantee programmes.

He added that till 2013, the scheme provided only about 36 days of work with a daily wage of Rs162, whereas under the Modi government the number of workdays had been increased to 125 and the daily wage raised to Rs 369.

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The union minister said the Centre had allocated about Rs 1.51 lakh crore exclusively for the employment scheme, with a focus on basic infrastructure development in rural areas, and that the programme was designed to support states that were lagging behind in development.

He added that the central government had reformed the employment guarantee scheme to make it more people-friendly and effective.