Latest news with #K.N.Balagopal
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Health
- The Hindu
Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal's office lodges complaint against Facebook page
The office of Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal has lodged a complaint with the State Police Chief against a Facebook page for posting allegedly defamatory content about the Minister. Mr. Balagopal said in a Facebook post that that the admins of the page had posted misleading content related to his hospitalisation in May, 2025 and the medical bill at the Government Medical College Hospitalisation, Thiruvananthapuram. According to the page, the Minister had claimed a huge sum for just a day's hospitalisation. Mr. Balagopal said he was eligible for seeking medical care in a private hospital, where the bill would have been much higher. Yet, he was being persecuted for depending on the affordable public healthcare system, he said. Mr. Balagopal was hospitalised from May 12 to May 17.
The Hindu
7 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Kerala government sanctions ₹100 crore for paddy procurement
Kerala's Finance department has authorised the release of ₹100 crore towards the subsidy for the procurement of paddy from farmers, Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal has said. The money has been sanctioned to Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco), which is in charge of the procurement. The ₹100 crore is meant for the subsidy for the paddy procurement in March and April this year (2025). The government had sanctioned ₹185 crore earlier this year for paddy procurement up to February. The State Budget for the 2025-26 fiscal has earmarked ₹606 crore for the purpose. Mr. Balagopal said the State government is ensuring prompt payment of subsidy even though the Centre has run up arrears on the minimum support price. According to him, the Centre's arrears on support price and transportation charges has mounted to nearly ₹1100 crore. Kerala follows a model where the farmers are promptly paid through the paddy receipt sheet (PRS) scheme, without waiting for the Centre to release the support price.
The Hindu
13-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Ambalappuzha MLA Merit Award presented
Fostering a socially responsible younger generation is vital for the progress of Kerala, Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal has said. Inaugurating the distribution of Ambalappuzha MLA Merit Award (Ponthilakam 2025) at T.D. Medical College auditorium at Vandanam on Sunday, Mr. Balagopal said that the State was leading the country in academic excellence. 'Students should diligently fulfil their responsibilities to uphold this achievement,' he said. Students who achieved outstanding results in SSLC and Plus Two examinations, schools that recorded excellent performance, university rank holders were felicitated. Film actor Pramod Veliyanad, writer Akhil P. Dharmajan, Ernakulam Assistant Collector Parvathi Gopakumar, film directors Najeem Koya, Ghafoor Y. Ilyas, and Ubaini Ebrahim, theatre artist Job Madathil, cultural activist H. Subair, and philanthropist V. Rajan were honoured at the event. H. Salam, MLA, presided.
The Hindu
27-06-2025
- The Hindu
Report flags irregularities in distribution of special adhesive stamps in Idukki
The State Finance Inspection wing under the State Finance department has uncovered serious violations in the distribution of special adhesive stamps by the Treasury department, following an investigation into a shortage of stamps worth ₹3.6 lakh in Idukki. The issue came to light in August 2018 when a shortage of 7,200 special adhesive stamps (each valued at ₹50) was reported at the Kattappana sub-treasury. The stamps were reportedly supplied from the Nedumkandam district stamp depot. In the Treasury department's initial investigation, the findings were inconclusive, prompting the Finance Inspection Wing to launch a detailed probe. The probe revealed that the stamps went missing from the Kattappana sub-treasury due to negligence by officials. 'The inquiry confirmed serious lapses on the part of the officials,' said the probe report, highlighting a financial loss of ₹3.6 lakh to the government. The report said that two of the three officials who were found responsible for the loss paid ₹90,000 each to the State government. 'But one official, K.C. Gopakumar, who was the junior superintendent of Kattappana sub-treasury, refused to pay the amount. The government should take immediate steps to collect the dues from the official,' said the report. Multiple irregularities Additionally, the investigation found that district treasury officers failed to enforce storage limits for stamps, as mandated under Treasury Code Rule 154. The report noted, 'District treasury officers continued this violation with the tacit support of the State treasury director. State treasury directors' refusal to comply with government rules is unacceptable.' Further irregularities were uncovered in the handling of stamps received from the Central stamp depot, with proper counting and verification procedures being routinely ignored before entries were made in the register. The report further stated that during the retirement or transfer of officers in sub-treasuries, crucial records related to valuable items are often not properly handed over, resulting in discrepancies. 'Such practices would result in the loss of the valuable items of the treasuries,' said the report. The report further recommended that the lack of enforcement of storage limits for stamps in sub-treasuries would lead to financial malpractices in sub-treasuries. 'The storage limit for each sub-treasury should be fixed at an emergency level. In addition, a strict directive should require all sub-treasury officers to count the number and value of stamps according to the invoice or indent when receiving them from the district stamp depot. Sources indicated that Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal has approved the report and endorsed the implementation of the inspection wing's recommendations.
The Hindu
20-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Kerala's internal revenue generation tipped to cross ₹1 lakh crore in 2025-26, says Finance Minister
Kerala's own revenue is projected to cross the ₹ 1 lakh crore-mark in 2025-26, signalling that State finances will continue in recovery mode despite severe challenges on the fiscal front, Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal has said. Mr. Balagopal said the Finance department expected internal revenue generation, from both own tax and non-tax sources, to touch ₹1.05 lakh crore in the current fiscal. The estimated growth, he said, was the outcome of improved efficiency in tax collection enabled by a comprehensive overhaul of the Taxes department in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. Under the present Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front government, the State's own tax revenues (SOTR) had steadily improved from ₹47,661 crore in 2020-21 to ₹76,656 crore in 2024-25. Non-tax revenues grew from ₹7,327 crore to ₹16,568 crore during the same period. The government, Mr. Balagopal said, had succeeded in pulling up the State from a Central policies-induced 'nosedive' to a position where it was equipped for 'take-off' to the next phase. 'We have achieved this in a situation where Kerala was deprived of about ₹50,000 crore annually due to the shrinkage of borrowing space and discontinuation of the revenue deficit grant and GST compensation,' he said. Mr. Balagopal said there was continued scope for finetuning tax collection. On the Integrated GST (IGST) front, systemic issues in the mechanism of its settlement with all States had deprived Kerala of ₹956.16 crore. Kerala had taken up the matter with the Centre, Mr. Balagopal said. Mr. Balagopal said the State expected to allocate ₹600 crore this year towards the Guarantee Redemption Fund (GDR). The GDR was meant to cover government guarantees offered for loans availed by public sector entities and cooperatives. According to Kerala, the Centre had reduced the State's borrowing limit by a further ₹3,300 this year citing the GDR as a requirement. Mr. Balagopal also swept aside reports that the State's debt would touch ₹6 lakh crore this year-end. It would increase to about ₹4.7 lakh crore, but the State had been able to reverse the previous trend where debt doubled every five years. As part of the drive against tax evasion, the State GST department was planning action against traders/businesses who evaded taxation by deploying street vendors to sell their products, the Minister said. 'Such practices take unfair advantage of the benefits enjoyed by genuine street vendors,' he said. In May, the SGST department had busted an organised racket engaged in the manufacture and sale of spurious diesel, he said.
