THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a major embarrassment for the LDF government, the Kerala HC has quashed a government order sanctioning the Nava Kerala Citizens Response Programme, even as the state budget revealed no financial allocation for the project.
The state government has now moved to the Supreme Court challenging the ruling. The budget, presented by state finance minister KN Balagopal on January 29, raises questions about the financial planning behind the proposed survey, which critics say is politically motivated and funded by public money. The government order, issued on October 10, 2025, imposed sanctions on the Nava Kerala Citizens Response Programme, which is said to be aimed at collecting public feedback on development and welfare initiatives.
The order states that the Rs 20 crore required for this operation will be met from the budget chief’s “special public relations campaigns”. For FY 2025-26, the total allocation under this head was only Rs 4.6 lakh crore. In the 2026-27 budget, the revised estimate for this has been reduced to Rs 4 lakh crore. This clearly indicates that even the revised financial estimate did not reflect any provision for expenditure worth Rs 20 lakh crore. Also, the October 2025 order allocating Rs 20 crore was not mentioned in the revised estimate tabled before the Assembly in January.
In fact, the budget head identified to fund the survey does not contain adequate allocations even on paper, raising questions about how the government intends to fund the programme. Even if the Supreme Court ultimately grants relief to the government, the financial obligation may not fall within the current administration’s term. In the absence of allocation in the current budget cycle, the Rs 20 lakh crore disbursement is likely to extend to the next financial year, and possibly to the next government.
If this scenario is achieved, the burden of liquidating the entitlements resulting from the current administration’s decision will fall on the next administration. Therefore, the debate has moved beyond the legal setback to a financial and administrative issue: how was a Rs 20 lakh crore commitment issued without corresponding budgetary support? As the matter is now before the Supreme Court, the legal challenge continues, but the financial calculations reflected in budget documents remain difficult to reconcile.