Infrastructure construction. Representative Image (Getty Images)Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Assembly unanimously passed the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund (KIIFB) amendment bill on Wednesday. The bill is aimed at mobilizing Rs 50,000 crore in five years to build basic infrastructure in the State.
The government intends to bring out bonds and mobilize funds from agencies in foreign countries and an amendment was made to widen the scope of operations of the KIIFB bill.
However, the opposition, which criticized the bill during discussion, accepted finance minister Thomas Issac’s plea to pass the bill unanimously. It is to the credit of finance minister Thomas Issac that he was able to pass the bill with the support of Opposition even when doubts persist about practicality of implementing the bill.
NABARD has promised to invest Rs 5,000 crore into the fund. The government expects to attract Rs 20,000 as investment in the first phase, said Finance Minister Thomas Issac while presenting the bill in the Assembly.
Though opposition demanded that tolls and user fees be waived for projects built under KIIFB scheme, the finance minister refused to accept it. With the passing of the bill, the ordinance which was brought out earlier by the government becomes null and void.
According to bill, the chief minister will be chairman of the governing body while finance minister will be the chairman of the executive committee. The other members will either be professionals or high ranking officials.
The governing body will meet twice during a year while the executive committee will meet every fortnight. That six members should be present for the quorum to be completed was changed to eight through amendment. The law was changed to include provision for dismissing members, who are found guilty of corruption.
K.M. Mani and M. Ummer raised the issue of priority when the bill was presented. V.D. Satheeshan and Thruvanchoor Radhakrishnan presented their protest saying that bill bypassed the State Budget and reduced the Assembly to a scarecrow.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and P.K. Kunjalikutty criticized the KIIFB bill.
The opposition also pointed out that the bill does not say anything about the expenditure of money received from vehicle tax and petrol cess when investment was made on KIIFB.
The opposition also said that bill doesn’t have provision for the Assembly to discuss this. Professor N. Jayaraj, P.K. Sasi, I.C. Balakrishnan took part in the discussion.
