The Centre government should drop the move to abandon the Nemom coaching terminal, demanded Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Addressing a meeting of MPs from the State ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament here on Saturday, Mr. Vijayan asked the MPs to strongly raise the subject in the coming session of Parliament.
The rail development is a sorry state of affairs in the State with a good number of announced projects either being dropped or not implemented, including new trains and tracks and extension of existing tracks announced earlier. The MPs should exert pressure on the Centre for the comprehensive rail development of the State, said Mr Vijayan.
The MPs should also intervene in every possible way to find a solution to the issues related to environmentally sensitive areas. The state government is intervening both bureaucratically and legally. While emphasizing the stance of the State government that residential areas and farmlands should be protected, Mr. Vijayan said the Centre should be requested to bring the matter to the notice of the Supreme Court. A modification petition will also be filed against the Supreme Court order, said Mr Vijayan.
The meeting also demanded the extension of Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation for the next five years. A letter has been sent to the Ministry of Civil Aviation to consider Bekal-Kannur, Idukki-Thiruvananthapuram and Idukki-Kochi air strip routes. Accusing the Centre of reducing the powers of the States day by day, the Chief Minister said the Centre had been continuing the process to legislate subjects listed on the concurrent list without adequate consultation with the states.
Considering the huge agitation going on across the country against the Agnipath scheme, the Centre should be ready to withdraw the scheme, said Mr Vijayan. The State has informed the Centre that the decision to amend the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR Act) will have far-reaching consequences. At present, only government entities have the right to mine atomic minerals, while any change in the status quo will have serious implications for national security and the environment, said Mr Vijayan.
Expats are the most vulnerable groups and the governments should support them in a big way. But the Centre is looking at how much they can be harmed, said Mr Vijayan. There is no positive response yet regarding the ₹2,000 crore expatriate rehabilitation package. Furthermore, airfares are increasing exponentially whenever they have to come home. Urgent action should be taken to reduce air fares on domestic and international routes. It is not right to say that the Centre was not responsible for the high air fares whenever the issue is brought to the attention of the Centre, said Mr Vijayan. The Chief Minister also said that the hopes of some that there would be a big change when the Thiruvananthapuram airport was handed over to Adani were misplaced.
The move to cut the eligible borrowing limit for states should be abandoned. With the implementation of the Food Security Act, the ration system had to be restricted to the priority sections only, which resulted in around half a lakh people being driven out of the priority list ration system. The kerosene quota for fishermen has also been reduced, while the wheat quota is almost on the brink of being lost. The MPs should exert pressure on the Centre to take necessary steps to restore the ration allocation and kerosene meant for the tate, said Mr Vijayan.
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