Union Law Minister Ravi Sankar Prasad has asked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to seek “better ways to strengthen federalism” rather than writing to other Chief Ministers on restrictions on cattle trade.
Mr. Vijayan had written to his counterparts in the country highlighting that the Centre's move was an infringement on the rights of State governments.
Responding to mediapersons on the issue here on Sunday, Mr. Prasad said he did not wish to interfere with the freedom of the Chief Minister in this regard. However, Mr. Vijayan and the CPI(M) should allow other parties to function smoothly in the State if Mr. Vijayan believed in strengthening federalism.
Kerala had always been open to changes and this was the State which democratically elected the first communist government. The people should have the liberty to experiment with the BJP. No wall should be forcibly created in the State, referring to the political stand-off between the BJP and the CPI(M), Mr. Prasad said.
On the issue of cattle trade, Mr. Prasad said the government did not interfere with the eating habits but attempted to regulate trade of cattle. The government was open to suggestions on the issue, he said.
The Centre would support the State to set up an electronic cluster at Kakkanad in Kochi and would provide Rs.50 crore for setting up the basic infrastructure facilities there, he said.
Also, the State would get the Central help for developing an incubation centre which would be spread over 30,000 sq ft. Kerala should adopt a pro-active step towards IT sector and attracting FDI.
The digital data storage facility of the country was safe. Though several countries were badly hit during the recent cyber attacks, only 200 computers in the country were hit, he said.
Earlier, interacting with the IT experts and young entrepreneurs, Mr. Prasad said the government had succeeded in delivering the benefits of various schemes to the beneficiaries by digital transactions and avoiding middlemen. More jobs would be generated in the sector. There had also been significant jump in the FDI in the sector during the past three years, he said.