Do not punish us for our social advancements, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan tells Centre
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan
| Photo Credit: K. Ragesh
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has asked the Union Government not to “punish” a State for its social advancements. “Social advancements should not be a burden or punishment for a State,” he has said referring to the Union government’s policy towards Kerala.
“The Centre has been biased towards Kerala. It should correct its bias,” said the Chief Minister while addressing the media after a special morning gathering held as part of the Navakerala Sadas at Tirur in Malappuram district on November 27, 2023 (Monday).
Mr. Vijayan alleged that the Union government was preventing all means that bring money to Kerala.
The Chief Minister said that the people were generally reluctant to follow the safety guidelines at places of larger gatherings. More precautionary measures should be taken to prevent the recurrence of crowd tragedies, he said.
“We have a peculiar mindset. Whatever happens, we immediately blame the police,” he said, referring to questions about the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) stampede in which four students were killed and several others were injured.
The Chief Minister said that the Health department was monitoring the situation in the State in the wake of the recent reports indicating a surge in respiratory illness in children in northern China in the past few weeks. “There is nothing to worry,” said Mr. Vijayan.
The Union Government on Sunday asked the State Governments to ensure that the trends of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) be closely monitored by the district and State surveillance units of Integrated Disease Surveillance Project, particularly of children and adolescents.
Referring to some local leaders of the United Democratic Front (UDF) taking part in the Navakerala Sadas, the Chief Minister said that the UDF constituents were soon to face the consequences of a false decision they took. “They cannot hold on to such anti-people decisions any longer,” he said.
Mr. Vijayan said that as many as 45,897 applications were received from Kozhikode district during the different phases of the Navakerala Sadas.
