Thiruvananthapuram, February 2, (BPNS)
Kerala has recorded its highest growth rate, since 2012-13 fiscal, during the 2021-22 fiscal year. The state had cloaked a record 12.01 percent in the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) at constant prices in the 2021-22 fiscal. It was -8.43 per cent in the pandemic-plagued 2020-21 fiscal.
Terming the growth rate as a ‘strong recovery’, the Economic Review 2022 tabled at the Assembly on Thursday also stated that this was ‘robust growth’ despite the fiscal constraints set by the Centre.
The Review also highlighted that the annual growth rate of public debt of the state decreased to 10.16 per cent in 2021-22 from 14.34 per cent in 2020-21.
With criticism mounting against the state government for not generating revenue, the Economic Review said that the state’s efforts to improve its finances through the fiscal consolidation path have been jolted by a series of setbacks which are beyond its control.
“To make fiscal consolidation sustainable, the State cannot afford any slippage in own-revenue mobilisation. Efforts to strengthen own resource generation must be accorded high priority and to attain the goal, each revenue-generating department should have a vision document from 2022-23 itself,” reads an excerpt from the document.
It also highlighted that there is a need to rationalize expenditure, especially revenue expenditure. And this must go along with the efforts to raise resources through tax and non-tax sources.
The revenue expenditure grew by 18.42% in 2021-22 over the previous fiscal, from ₹1,23,446.33 crore to ₹1,46,179.51 crore.
“Mobilisation of additional revenue and prioritising expenditure assume significant importance in the way forward towards fiscal consolidation,” said the Economic Review.
Counter-cyclical fiscal policy
As per the Economic Review, the State managed to achieve recovery primarily through a counter-cyclical fiscal policy implemented through various stimulus packages. It stated that the government stepped in
to offer relief particularly to the most vulnerable sections of the society by providing essential services, goods, and cash.
To reduce human-animal conflict
The Economic Review stated that human-wildlife conflict has risen to a great extent in the recent past leading to an increase in claims for compensation. In 2021-22 alone ₹13.1 crore was disbursed as compensation, an increase of 25 per cent over the previous year.
To address the same, it stressed the need for a comprehensive strategy having long term and short term measures through prevention and mitigation.
“Attacks by elephants are the main cause of damage to lives and crops to the people living in the fringe areas of forest. Other wild animals like tiger, leopard, pig, and peacock are also involved in human-wildlife conflicts,” said the Economic Review.
As per the stats, in 2021-22, 114 human lives were lost in the human-wildlife interface. Of this, most (65)were caused by snake bites. The second most (35) owes to elephant attacks. 3349 incidents of crop damage and property loss due to elephant attacks have also been reported in 2021-22.
Cyber Crime
The Economic Review highlighted that there is an increasing trend of cyber crimes as it analyzed data from 2018-19 to 2021-22 fiscal.
“Social media abuse, online cheating, cyber offences done through smart phones, hacking of bank accounts and e-mail ids, creation, publishing and sharing of child pornography are the major cyber crime cases reported during the period,” said the report.
Other highlights of the Economic Review
– In Kerala, men outnumber women in public sector employment, but the private sector employs slightly more women than men
– Contrary to the all-India scenario, live registers in Kerala indicate a larger number of women jobseekers
than men. Of the total job seekers in 2021 (up to December 31, 2021), 63.1 percent are women.
– The total placement through Employment Exchanges in Kerala has mostly been declining since
2010.
– Tourism has contributed significantly to the economy of Kerala for decades, with revenue of
₹12,285.91 crore to the sector in 2021.
– Around 0.6 lakh foreign tourists visited the State in 2021, which is (-)82.25 per cent lower than (3.4 lakh) the previous year. The number of foreign tourists who visited Kerala in 2022 up to June was 1.05 lakh.
– The majority of foreign tourists to the State in 2021 came from Russia.
– the two districts which recorded largest foreign tourist arrivals in the State are Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram
– Region-wise figures of foreign tourists visiting in the State shows that in 2021, about 79.82 per cent of the total foreign tourists visited the central part of Kerala and only 4.98 per cent visited the Northern part and 15.19 per cent visited the southern part of Kerala.
– the distribution of domestic tourist visits in Kerala by State of origin in 2021 reveals that about 81.42 per cent originated within the State
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