THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: There are no new promises this time, says LDF candidate C Divakaran. There is only one promise - to resolve the long-pending demands of the city residents. “Development has been the city's demand. The thrust will be on realising the decades-long demands of the city and ensuring that the capital gets its due share," he said. "The capital city's development is entirely dependent on infrastructure and connectivity and that will be the focus,” he said.
According to him, the main components of connectivity are the rail and air network. “Development of the railways is integral. It has been a dream of the residents to have a zonal office here and it is crucial for region-based development. The divisional office we had was bifurcated and taken away,” he said. The focus is on the railway division being in full swing along with the setting of a zonal office. Moreover privatisation is not the solution for everything, he feels.
“Why should we privatise an airport which is running on profit. Privatisation is not necessary for reducing the airfares or for operating more flights. The Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is one of the crowning glories of the capital and we should not let it slip away into private hands,” he said.“A lot of money has been taken from the state exchequer to develop the airport to this stature and it is the pride of the capital.
We have enough expertise in operating the airports in the state successfully and can easily run this one too in CIAL model. It needs to remain within the control of the state government,” he said.Setting up institutions like the IIM, IIT and AIIMS are some of the the long pending demands and thrust will be given to this, he said. Reinstatement of the High Court bench will be ensured. “The state has been incurring lot of monetary loss due to constant travels by officials from Secretariat to Kochi for litigations. This needs to be checked and reinstating the HC bench is a key element,” Divakaran said.
He believes a lobby centred around Delhi is operating to prevent development in the capital and this, he said, is in turn affecting the airport's development as well. “That is the bane of the capital. Several business houses are involved in this, and they are trying to topple the development here. I intend to bust this lobby,” he said.
Compared to any other capital in any state, Thiruvananthpuram has had to suffer largely, he said. “We have to fight to earn our due share. I intend to agitate until our long pending demands are met,” he added. He believes that the development of the railways is integral. A zonal office is crucial for region-based development. The aiport must not be privatised. HC bench must be reinstated.
