UDF government surrendering to Centre; KIIFB made 50 years of development possible, says Pinarayi Vijayan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan has accused the UDF government of supporting the Centre's agenda to destroy the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB which had given wings to the state's development dreams. In a Facebook post, Pinarayi said the Sudha Pillai committee report, appointed to examine KIIFB, and the Chief Minister's attempt to glorify its findings amounted to a declaration of war against Kerala. He described the report tabled in the Assembly as nothing more than a political document that merely reproduced the baseless allegations repeatedly made by the Chief Minister.

According to Pinarayi, the LDF government had revived KIIFB with the aim of completing infrastructure projects in the present that would otherwise have taken 25 to 50 years to materialise. He alleged that those who had once fiercely mocked the revival of KIIFB were now blinded by its remarkable success and trying to strangle the institution. Weakening KIIFB would not just be a historic blunder but also a grave injustice to the present and future generations, he added.

Pinarayi Vijayan's Facebook post

The UDF government is supporting the Centre's agenda to destroy KIIFB, which gave wings to Kerala's development dreams. The Sudha Pillai committee report appointed to examine KIIFB and the Chief Minister's stand glorifying its findings amount to a declaration of war against Kerala. The report tabled in the Assembly is nothing but a political document that reproduces, word for word, the baseless allegations repeatedly made by the Chief Minister.

The LDF government used KIIFB to realise infrastructure projects in the present that would otherwise have taken 25 or even 50 years to complete. Those who once ridiculed the revival of KIIFB in the harshest terms are now blinded by its remarkable success and are attempting to strangle it. Destroying KIIFB is not merely a historic blunder but also a grave injustice to the present and future generations.

By securitising future revenues, KIIFB has approved projects worth nearly Rs 1 lakh crore. Development projects worth Rs 40,000 crore, including schools, hospitals and bridges, have already been completed. This mobilisation of resources outside the Plan Fund has transformed Kerala's landscape. It has also created room for the government to allocate more funds through the Budget for healthcare, education and welfare activities. However, the Sudha Pillai committee and the UDF government have now adopted the Centre's flawed argument that KIIFB is making investments that are not financially viable. This reflects a neoliberal economic outlook that considers investments in social sectors such as education, healthcare and housing to be 'unprofitable'.

KIIFB has provided Rs 16,108 crore for land acquisition for projects including the Kochi-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor and GIFT City. Its investments are also the backbone of major projects such as the Kochi Water Metro, TransGrid, K-FON, Life Science Park and Kochi Petrochemical Park, as well as the rehabilitation of victims of the Chooralmala-Mundakkai disaster. KIIFB also provided the Rs 6,000 crore contributed by Kerala as its 25 per cent share for national highway development, a project whose entire cost should have been borne by the Centre. The UDF government is now preparing a chargesheet while concealing all these contributions. The question of whether KIIFB loans should be included in the state's public debt limit under Article 293(3) of the Constitution is currently before a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court. Despite this, the UDF government is sacrificing the state's interests and surrendering to the Centre.

Ending KIIFB would shut down an important avenue for social welfare. This move hides an agenda to privatise essential public services. What alternative does the UDF government have to replace KIIFB and sustain capital investment in Kerala? UDF MLAs must also explain how they intend to implement development projects in their respective constituencies. Kerala will unitedly resist the UDF government's political decision to dismantle KIIFB.