Centre’s stand disappointing, says Balagopal

The Centre’s stand that it will release funds only if Kerala withdraws its petition in the Supreme Court is quite disappointing and a challenge to Keralites, said Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal here on Monday. Talking to the media at the Kollam district panchayat, he added that the Union government’s decision to deny the State its due share had affected fiscal federalism. “The next hearing of the case is on March 6 and 7,” he said. The Kerala government had approached the Supreme Court against the Centre imposing a ceiling on the State’s net borrowing and an earlier meeting held between the State and the Centre had yielded no results. A four-member delegation headed by Mr. Balagopal had held talks with officials from the Centre to settle the dispute, but the discussions were not successful.