THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was the hype over the historic win in 2021 assembly elections that has set the target so high for the second Pinarayi Vijayan government. By winning 99 of the 140 seats and retaining power, the LDF government seemed to have the panacea for state’s serious illnesses and voters hoped for a speedy cure. A year down the line, on the first anniversary day, what greets the government is a sit-in protest by employees of state-run KSRTC, who are yet to get the salary for April.
Had the Union government not lifted a ban on public borrowings for the state earlier this month, the same fate would have haunted the government employees too. Ironically, the government is in no mood to accept that the state is reeling under acute financial shortage and wants to go ahead with mega projects like SilverLine semi high-speed rail corridor, the feasibility of which is yet to be proven technically and economically.
Despite all warnings, the government didn’t try to downsize over 150 PSUs or reduce the number of personal staff members of ministers. Creation of new posts and contract appointments of cronies are going on without any pause.
Being the continuation of 2016 government, it was only natural for the government to continue all its flagship schemes launched in the last five years. The first phase of K-FON project will soon be commissioned as tenders have been floated for players to provide free connections to BPL families. The LIFE Mission housing scheme is going steady with 20,000 new homes being handed over to beneficiaries this week. Focus on healthcare and education is yielding results with enrolment in government schools showing an increase for the next academic year. The waterways project and NH development programme which were rebooted in 2016 are lagging behind deadlines.
Continuing political murders, steep increase in goon attacks in major cities and increasing drug trafficking cases continue to give a headache to the home department handled by CM Pinarayi Vijayan. During the previous term too, home was one of the worst-performing departments. The laurels won by the health department in managing Covid during the first wave were shadowed by the sudden increase in mortality rate during the second wave as the hidden figures started tumbling out.
“One factor that has affected the governance is the change of ministers and induction of so many new faces. Many of the ministers are yet to come to terms with their responsibilities,” said political scientist G Gopakumar.
‘THERE IS ‘LIFE AFTER DEBT’
According to political scientist J Prabhash, what the government needs to do immediately is to accept that there is a ‘life after debt’. “There is no place for financial extravaganza. All unnecessary spending needs to be stopped immediately,” he suggested.