KOCHI: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said the two consecutive terms of the LDF government in 2016 and 2021 helped bring major changes and achievements in Kerala. He was inaugurating the LDF’s Kochi corporation election convention held on the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium premises in Kaloor on Friday. “When the LDF assumed office in 2016, Kerala was in deep crisis due to years of mismanagement,” Pinarayi said, adding that sectors including education and health were on the verge of collapse.
“We put forward proposals to create changes. People accepted them. The devastated sectors were revived. People gave us a second term as the government met their expectations,” he said, citing the example of the social security pension dues in 2006 and 2016.
“When the LDF came to power in 2006, there were 28 months of social security pension dues. The first thing we did after coming to power was clear the pending pension dues. In 2016, it was 18 months. That’s how the UDF functioned. The LDF government, which cleared the arrears, increased the welfare pension from Rs 600 to Rs 1,600 and now to Rs 2,000,” the chief minister said.
The event was presided over by CPI Ernakulam district secretary N Arun. The chief minister also appreciated the Kochi corporation council for its performance in the past five years. Highlighting a few projects, he said the corporation brought about a change in the city through the initiatives.