THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Opposition, that protested in the assembly during the policy address with placards that read ‘Governor-government bhai-bhai’, alleged that the mild criticism against the Centre in the address was part of a ‘compromise’ struck by the chief minister and the governor.
Leader of opposition VD Satheesan told reporters after the address that most of the tall claims in the governor’s speech, including the assertion that the state’s fiscal health was robust, were ‘laughable’.
Satheesan said the arrears relating to the Farmers’ Debt Relief Commission were close to Rs 400 crore. The arrears to be disbursed as part of paddy procurement was around Rs 200 crore.
He alleged that the money for welfare schemes for children and pension scheme for workers were unpaid for the past many months. “Even for the Nava Keralam project, which was repeated many a times in the policy address, only Rs 48 crore of the Rs 1,600 crore earmarked could be spent,” Satheesan said. He also ridiculed the claim in the policy address that Kerala Police was the best police force in the country.
“The recent incidents have shown that it was the state police and CPM leaders who were protecting the drug mafia. Besides, fundamentalist elements from both minority and majority communities have infiltrated into the police force,” he alleged.
Satheesan said that though many projects were announced by the LDF government for the welfare of fishermen, not even Rs 500 crore has been spent in the sector. He added that the policy address lacked direction and could be called as the worst address by a governor in the history of the state.