No delay in disbursal of salaries, pensions in April: Kerala Finance Minister

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal assured the government employees that there won’t be any delay in the disbursal of salaries and pensions in the upcoming month. “Everyone will receive their salaries exactly on April 1,” said the Finance Minister. He was addressing the media after a visit to the treasury on Saturday. 

"We made payments to the tune of Rs 26,000 crore in this March alone. This is higher than the last fiscal year. We made payments to various sectors at a time when we were facing financial pressure," said Balagopal.

The Finance Minister said the state government effectively intervened to manage the financial crisis and an interim application on the borrowing limit and other matters are pending before the Supreme Court.

Balagopal added that the apex court recently ruled in the state's favour as there was substance in its arguments regarding the financial strangulation.

The apex court was hearing a suit filed by the Kerala government that alleged that the Union of India was regulating the state's finances through its "exclusive, autonomous and plenary powers" by imposing a ceiling on borrowing. (With inputs from PTI)