THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress-led UDF opposition on Saturday boycotted a special session of the Kerala Assembly, dismissing the government’s declaration of having eradicated extreme poverty as a "sham."
As the special Assembly session commenced, Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan said the Chief Minister’s statement under Rule 300 was a “pure fraud” and in “contempt” of House rules.
“So, we cannot join in that and are completely boycotting the session,” Satheesan said.
The UDF members then walked out shouting that the claim was “fraudulent” and “shameful.” Responding, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said tht the UDF is referring to its own behaviour when it says ‘fraud’.
"We only say what we can implement, and we have implemented what we said. That is our reply to the opposition leader,” he said.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan made the announcement during a special session convened to mark Kerala Piravi, the state’s formation day, declaring that Kerala had become the first state in the country to achieve this milestone.
Pinarayi said the state had spent over Rs 1,000 crore to eradicate extreme poverty and make its mark on the global social landscape. He added that Kerala had also set a model for other states to emulate. The Chief Minister described the achievement as a significant step in the LDF government’s efforts to build a ‘Nava Keralam’.
“Providing welfare pension to 62 lakh families, houses to 4.7 lakh families, setting up around 6,000 public health facilities, expanding family health centres, free health insurance to 43 lakh families, and land to four lakh families were helpful in reducing the extent and intensity of extreme poverty in the state,” the Chief Minister said.
While lauding the efforts of various stakeholders who helped achieve the ‘extreme poverty-free’ tag, the Chief Minister pointed out that vigilant activities should be carried out to sustain the achievement. He added that the government has already prepared a blueprint for carrying out such activities at various levels and to scrutinise the outcomes.
“The government will make vigilant interventions with people’s participation to raise the living standards of those who have been rid of extreme poverty and also to ensure social justice and equity for them,” he added.
