Testing Times for a Smiling Pragmatist

It is the controversial demonetisation, the once-in-a-generation kind of event, and the imminent switch over to GST regime which prompted us to take a close look at the upcoming State Budget. Here, Finance Minister Dr. T M Thomas Isaac spends some time with Destination Kerala explaining the challenges and opportunities before him.

- Athul Lal

The first full budget of Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF Government is expected any day at the fag end of February or in the first week of March. For Dr. T M Thomas Isaac, perhaps, this might be the most challenging phase as Finance Minister as he tries to grapple with the fallout of the Central Government’s demonetisation, which according to him, has wreaked havoc on the Kerala economy.

In the present LDF Government’s first budget, which was presented on July 8, 2016, Isaac had no other option but to come out with an anti-recession package to revive the State’s economy which had been reeling under acute crisis. Now, the condition has become even worse. It is projected that in the current fiscal, Kerala’s growth rate will decline to the lowest level in five decades. With hardly two months left, the plan expenditure of local self-governing bodies stands very low at 18 per cent. Adding to the misery is the cold war between the Chief Minister’s Office and the bureaucrats.

While waiting for the Minister at his official residence, Manmohan Bungalow, a small book on taxes authored by Isaac lying in the verandah among a pile of books caught my attention. Published in 2007 when Isaac was the Finance Minister in the V S Achuthanandan-led Government, the book describes in detail the Government’s mission to wipe out the State’s revenue deficit within three years. Ten years have passed since, but the mission still continues, which speaks volumes about the depth of the crisis gripping the State’s economy.

After a quick lunch, Isaac was ready for a brief interview. A pragmatic socialist and a proven economist, he is one among the few politicians who counters criticism with a smile. But, Isaac appeared very tired. Despite the trademark smile, his demeanour demonstrated the difficult phase he has been passing through and disappointment at the way things are unfolding much against his wishes.