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Following the oath-taking ceremony of Kerala’s 24th Chief Minister, VD Satheesan, and 20 ministers on Monday, May 18, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government held its first cabinet meeting.
In his first press conference after taking oath as Chief Minister, Satheesan announced that two of the five proposed Indira Gandhi schemes promised by the UDF would be implemented immediately. One of these initiatives is free travel for women on KSRTC buses, which will commence on June 15. “More details about this will be informed,” he added.
Additionally, a separate department for senior citizens will be constituted. “This will make Kerala the first state in India to establish a department for senior citizens,” he said.
He also announced that ASHA workers will soon receive a pay hike of Rs 3,000, and decisions regarding their demand for retirement benefits will be made shortly. Furthermore, Anganwadi employees will receive a salary increase of Rs 1,000. He added that “the amount will be increased further considering the state’s financial situation.”
During a section of ASHA workers’ protests last year, Satheesan had strongly criticised the LDF government for failing to provide proper wages to the workers. He had backed their demand for a Rs 21,000 monthly honorarium and promised that it would be addressed in the first UDF cabinet meeting.
The Chief Minister also announced that cooking staff in schools would receive an additional Rs 1,000, and that the honorarium for pre-primary teachers would also be increased by Rs 1,000.
During the election campaign, the UDF promised multiple welfare schemes under the Indira Guarantee programme. These included free travel for all women on state-run KSRTC buses, a monthly stipend of Rs 1,000 for female college students to support higher education, a welfare pension hike to Rs 3,000 per month for the elderly and vulnerable, health insurance coverage of up to Rs 25 lakh per household, and interest-free business loans of up to Rs 5 lakh for young entrepreneurs to stimulate job creation, among other promises.
The ministers who took oath along with Satheesan are Ramesh Chennithala, Sunny Joseph, K Muraleedharan, Mons Joseph, Shibu Baby John, Anoop Jacob, CP John, AP Anil Kumar, M Shamsudheen, PC Vishnunath, Roji M John, Bindu Krishna, M Liju, VE Abdul Gafoor, T Siddique, KA Thulasi, OJ Janeesh, PK Kunhalikutty, PK Basheer, and KM Shaji.
The cabinet also decided to conduct the swearing-in of MLAs on May 21 and the Speaker election on May 22.
