We are building a New Age Kerala: V D Satheesan on jobs, economy and delimitation
Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan has unveiled an ambitious roadmap to revive the state's fragile finances, boost investment, tackle brain drain and prepare Kerala
Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan has unveiled an ambitious roadmap to revive the state's fragile finances, boost investment, tackle brain drain and prepare Kerala for demographic change, while also advocating stronger regulation of social media to curb online abuse against women. In an exclusive interview on Jab We Met with India Today TV's Marya Shakeel, Satheesan said the state government inherited a difficult fiscal situation but was determined to improve financial discipline, accelerate project execution and attract private investment without compromising welfare. Read Full Story Calling Kerala's financial position "very vulnerable", Satheesan said nearly 77 to 80 per cent of the state's revenue is spent on committed expenditure such as salaries, pensions and debt servicing, leaving only around one-fifth of the revenue available for development and welfare schemes. "When we are getting Rs 100, we can use only Rs 20 or Rs 22 for development as well as welfare activities," he said, adding that the government would soon release a white paper detailing the state's fiscal health. According to him, Kerala's immediate debt stands at around Rs 87,000 crore, while the overall debt burden exceeds Rs 5 lakh crore. PORT CITY VISION AND DIASPORA INVESTMENT Satheesan said improving fiscal management would be among his government's biggest priorities.
He argued that delayed infrastructure projects significantly increase costs and burden the exchequer. "When a Rs 100-crore project takes five or ten years to complete, it eventually costs Rs 1,000 crore. That is leakage from the exchequer," he said, adding that the government plans to introduce strict timelines and protocols for project implementation. The Chief Minister also laid out his vision of transforming Kerala into a logistics and investment hub by leveraging its 600-km coastline, international ports and airports. "We are planning to integrate all the ports and make the entire Kerala into a port city," he said. The government also plans to encourage greater private investment in airport infrastructure, saying the state's role should increasingly be that of a facilitator rather than an operator. Another key pillar of Satheesan's economic strategy is converting Kerala's remittance-dependent economy into an investment-led one. "Remittance is the backbone of our economy. But it is not being used for state development. We want to make the remittance economy an investment economy," he said. TACKLING BRAIN DRAIN AND AN AGEING POPULATION Satheesan expressed concern over Kerala's rapidly changing demographics, warning that the state is ageing faster than most parts of India while simultaneously witnessing large-scale migration of young people.
The BriefWire