Kerala Congress demands white paper on state's finances

Thiruvananthapuram, April 4 Senior Congress legislator K.C. Joseph in an open letter to Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Issac on Saturday demanded a white paper on the state's finances, saying the economic situation of the state is appallingly bad due to poor financial management.

Joseph said the Congress led opposition is committed to help and support all the efforts of the Pinarayi Vijayan government to fight the Covid-19 outbreak as it has taken a heavy toll on the state.

"You have now asked all state government employees to contribute a month's salary. The same exercise took place in 2018 and 2019 when floods ravaged the state and you collected Rs 2,400 crore. There is a balance of Rs 1,408 crore left from the donations received then, according to your own admission. The state also received Rs 3,300 crore from the Centre. So let us know where all these money is through a white paper," Joseph said in the letter.