THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government’s move to hold the regional summit of the Loka Kerala Sabha in the United States of America and Saudi Arabia in June and September, respectively, invited sharp criticism. According to the Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan, the tour by the Chief Minister and other ministers in the name of Loka Kerala Sabha amid financial constraints shows their arrogance.
He said that the government is making a mockery of people in the state. “Kerala is going through the worst economic crisis. The state government has taken away the ‘own fund’ of the panchayats. The government needs to pay `200 crores to the rice farmers. Neither social security pensions nor other payments that are beneficial to the people are paid,” said Satheesan.He said the ‘Aswasakiranam’ scheme for caregivers of the sick has also been suspended. KSRTC has been completely abandoned.
“Kerala is heading towards a crisis that will not end even with unlimited borrowing. However, this Chief Minister has the guts to allocate `125 crore to celebrate the government’s second anniversary despite all these crises,” said Satheesan.As part of the summits, two sub-committees with the Chief Secretary as chairman have been constituted. A government order has also been issued in this regard.The USA subcommittee has six members, while the Saudi Arabia subcommittee has seven members, including businessmen M A Yusuf Ali and Ravi Pillai.
In October 2022, a regional meet of the Loka Kerala Sabha was held in London. Loka Kerala Sabha is a platform for non-resident Keralites (NRK) with representatives from 47 countries and 21 states.
The platform is aimed at ensuring NRK participation in the development of the state and finding solutions to issues they face. The UDF-led opposition had also boycotted the last edition of the Loka Kerala Sabha. At that time, the opposition boycotted the summit as part of the controversy about Swapna Suresh, the key accused in the gold smuggling case.
The UDF had also alleged that the government did not respond to the queries in the assembly related to the benefits from the last two Loka Kerala Sabha meets, which were held in 2018 and 2020.