Honorable Finance minister of Kerala, Dr. Thomas Isaac was kind enough to visit the Central Campus of Christ University on the 9th  of March 2018 to interact with the students of Economics and deliver a lecture on the Union Budget as well as his views on Goods and Services Tax.  Being the Finance minister of the Southern State, he actively participates in the GST council and was a key figure in creating the GST in the way we see it today.

About Dr. Thomas Issac

T. M. Thomas Isaac (born 1952) is the Minister of Finance of the Indian state of Kerala and a central committee member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He represents the Alappuzha constituency in the Kerala State Legislative Assembly. During his tenure as a member of the Kerala State Planning Board, he was in charge of the People's Plan Campaign (PPC) in Kerala. This campaign is considered a landmark in the history of decentralization in India. He also served as the Finance Minister of Kerala from 2006 to 2011. Later, he was re-elected as an MLA in the 2016 elections and currently serves his second tenure as the Finance minister of the State.

Guest Lecture: Key Takeaways

The finance minister was welcomed by a welcome note delivered by Dr. Greeshma Manoj. Dr. Isaac started his three-hour-long lecture by explaining the key elements of Public Finance and how it ensures the destiny of any economy. He also critically looked at the recent reforms in budgetary allocation and planning and how the new tax regime will impact the economy. Though he believes that the new tax structure is beneficial for the economy as a whole, he is unhappy with certain areas of the  GST  where the tax slabs may hurt local production and domestic household economy. He also focused on the future of Kerala's economy and his plans for the welfare of his home State.
The lecture was concluded with a Q&A session wherein the students asked him several questions. This included questions on the impact of GST, the union budget 2018, the plight of natural rubber farmers in Kerala, the problems and economic challenges faced by the Southern States owing to the declining share in the Union tax pool, etc.
The finance minister himself expressed the joy of interacting with the Department of Economic Christ university and the students on the campus. The event was concluded by Dr. Joshy KJ, HOD, Economics felicitating Dr. Isaac with a memento as a token of gratitude from the department.
Overall, the lecture was a tremendous success and it opened up fresh perspectives on public financing and budgetary economics to the students.