THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government will establish a dedicated liaison mechanism in Delhi and create a digital dashboard in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) to strengthen coordination with the state’s Members of Parliament and ensure closer monitoring of projects and demands pending before the Centre, announced on Thursday. The proposals emerged at the first official meeting of Kerala MPs convened by the new government ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
Addressing the meeting, the chief minister said one of the key suggestions was the need for a more effective system to keep MPs regularly informed about the state’s priorities and enable better coordination with the Union government.
“The cabinet will examine the proposal and a robust mechanism will be put in place,” Satheesan said. He also announced that the CMO would set up a dedicated dashboard to provide MPs with real-time updates on the status of central projects, land acquisition, proposals pending before the Union government and other major issues. An additional nodal officer will also be appointed to coordinate matters relating to central schemes.
Urging MPs to function as Kerala’s “true ambassadors” in Delhi, Satheesan called for a united, bipartisan approach in pursuing the state’s interests with Union ministers and senior officials. He also endorsed a suggestion to constitute small teams of MPs based on their parliamentary committee memberships so that subject-specific issues could be pursued more effectively, while matters of common concern would be taken up jointly by all Kerala MPs.
The chief minister said the state government had recently prepared detailed proposals after aligning them with major central programmes, including PM Gati Shakti, Bharatmala Pariyojana, Sagarmala, the National Logistics Policy, the National Infrastructure Pipeline and various schemes of the Ministries of Ports and Civil Aviation.
The project documents would be shared with MPs before Parliament convenes so they could collectively press for their approval. Among the key demands to be pursued with the Centre are support for developing Kerala into an integrated maritime and aviation gateway by leveraging its two international ports, one container terminal, 17 minor ports and four international airports. The government is also seeking central assistance for the Southern Kerala Economic Corridor, Wayanad Tribal University, airport infrastructure, fisheries exports, green maritime fuel projects and integrated logistics infrastructure.
Satheesan also flagged Kerala’s worsening fiscal constraints, saying reduced central grants and borrowing restrictions had affected the state’s ability to implement development projects. He said the state had sought exemption of its expenditure on National Highway land acquisition from the borrowing limit and had received an in-principle assurance from the Union Finance Minister.
The meeting also discussed pending railway projects, including the Angamaly-Sabarimala, Nilambur-Nanjangud, Thalassery-Mysuru and Kanhangad-Panathur-Kaniyoor rail lines, Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) issues, National Highway safety, release of more than Rs 1,000 crore due towards paddy procurement, restoration of the public distribution system kerosene quota, measures to address human-wildlife conflict and steps to expedite land acquisition for infrastructure projects. Besides MPs, the meeting was attended by ministers, chief secretary Biswanath Sinha, departmental secretaries and senior government officials.
MPs’ conference: Key takeaways
Delhi liaison system to improve MP coordination
CMO dashboard to track central projects
MPs urged to act as Kerala’s ambassadors
Team-based approach for parliamentary follow-up
Maritime, aviation gateway push gets priority
Southern Kerala corridor seeks Centre’s support
Borrowing limit relief sought from Centre
Railway and highway projects to be expedited
ESA issues to be pursued with Centre
Human-wildlife conflict to be jointly addressed
