Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan lauded the week-long cultural event Keraleeyam 2023 that ended on Tuesday, November 7, at Thiruvananthapuram. However, Congress questioned the government on the extravagant spending for the fest.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Vijayan termed the week-long event as a huge success. “You (the media) should get the Opposition next time as they boycotted the event this time. Even Congress veteran Mani Shankar Aiyar, who took part in a seminar, lauded the achievements of Kerala, especially in the field of local governance,” Vijayan said.
Adding that this will now be an annual event, the CM said that the government has already set the ball rolling for next year’s Keraleeyam fest.
Taking a different stand, Congress leader of Opposition VD Satheesan said that a staggering Rs 27 crore has been spent to hold the event, further saying, "We wish to know what good it brought". “Vijayan should explain to the people the need for this extravagance, especially at a time when the state has turned a complete pauper. The fair-price shops run by the state government have no food items for the poor and weaker sections of society. The social welfare pensions are all in arrears, but Vijayan says everything is fine,” said Satheesan.
Earlier on Wednesday, during the hearing of a petition on the pending pension payable to former employees of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), Chief Secretary V Venu told the Kerala High Court that the delay is on account of the bad financial position of the state. To this, the court said that the priority for the government should be to deal with the problems facing the people and not celebrations, adding that if the pension to the KSRTC employees is not paid before the end of the month, the Chief Secretary and the MD of KSRTC will have to be called in.