THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Setting at rest the controversy over the state splurging on the regional conferences of the Loka Kerala Sabha (LKS), Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said the expenses for the meetings are not being borne by the government.
“The regional meetings are being funded by the Keralites settled in the respective countries,” Pinarayi said, inaugurating the Europe-UK regional conference of the LKS in London on Sunday. There were criticism by the opposition that the Norka was funding the LKS regional conferences.
The government is in touch with several countries exploring the opportunities, including in the nursing profession, for Keralites there, the CM said. The state government and the UK signed a memorandum of understanding at the meet to facilitate labour migration of health professionals from Kerala to the UK. A proposal to hold a UK employment fest in Novmeber is also under active consideration.
Meanwhile, state Congress president K Sudhakaran accused Pinarayi of spending crores of rupees for taking family members during foreign trips. “The common man’s money is being looted...Pinarayi claims that the travel expenses of family members are being met from own pocket. I don’t buy that argument,” Sudhakaran said in Kannur. None of the announcments Pinarayi made during his previous foreign trips have materialised, he alleged.