Last Updated: February 10, 2023, 13:20 IST
Thiruvananthapuram [Trivandrum], India
The opposition has been protesting against the state budget and the new taxes, which include Rs 2 social security cess on a litre of petrol/diesel.
Of the arrears, Rs 6,422.49 crore (29.46%) is pending from the government or local bodies. This necessitates urgent intervention from the government to clear the outstanding arrears
Even as the Kerala budget has introduced new taxes, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) reported the state’s revenue arrears, as of March 2021, at Rs 21,797.86 crore, of which Rs 7,100.32 crore was outstanding for more than five years. The arrears account for 22.33% of the total revenue of the state.
The opposition has been protesting against the state budget and the new taxes, which include Rs 2 social security cess on a litre of petrol/diesel.
Of the arrears, Rs 6,422.49 crore (29.46%) is pending from the government or local bodies. This necessitates urgent intervention from the government to clear the outstanding arrears.
The report stated: “Absence of prompt reporting of arrears to Revenue Department and pursuance by the Departments concerned for realising the arrears are the main reasons for the huge pendency of arrears. The situation calls for putting in place an effective system for monitoring and realisation of arrears. The arrears of Rs 7,100.32 crore were pending for more than five years in 12 Departments and includes those of Excise Department from 1952 onwards. The cases referred to the Government for write off (Rs 1,905.89 crore) were also not being pursued by the Departments/ offices concerned.”
The report further stated that an amount of Rs 6,143.28 crore is pending under stay orders, which is 32.79% of the total arrears. The departments need to take effective action to vacate the stay orders and realise the amounts. The recommendation is that the departments should create a database of outstanding arrears for effective monitoring and follow-up for recovery of arrears.
The total revenue receipts of the state government for 2020-21 amounted to Rs 97,616.83 crore against Rs 90,224.67 crore and Rs 92,854.48 crore for 2019-20 and 2018-19, respectively. The state’s revenue was Rs 54,988.15 crore (56% of total receipts) and the share of receipts from the Government of India was Rs 42,628.68 crore (44% of total receipts).
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