Union Minister George Kurian said if Kerala wants more funds from the Centre, it should declare that it is backwards in terms of education, infrastructure, and social welfare.
The remark from Kurian, while speaking to reporters in the national capital, came in the wake of intense criticism of the union budget 2025-26 from the ruling CPI(M) and the opposition Congress in Kerala, which on Saturday accused the central government of “neglecting” all of the state’s demands.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, state Finance Minister K N Balagopal, and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan rejected the Kerala budget, saying that several demands of the state were “ignored” including a special financial package of Rs 24,000 crore and another package for rehabilitation in the wake of the flood at Wayanad. They termed the budget as “condemnable”, “extremely disappointing” and “unfortunate”.
After their statement, Kurian, the Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, and Minority Affairs said that the Centre gives such packages to states which are backward in various indices.
You proclaim that Kerala is backward, it does not have roads, good education, etc. If you say that Kerala is behind other states in terms of education, infrastructure, and social welfare, then the (Finance) Commission will examine it and report to the central government. The central government will make a decision based on the report. It does not decide on its own,” he said.
Irate over his comments, CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan retorted, “The Centre wants Kerala to be backward, but that will not happen”. He said that the central government is supposed to help Kerala develop further, “instead of asking it to go backwards”. So, George Kurian’s help is for Kerala to go backwards,” he contended while speaking at an event in the state capital.
