Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has dubbed the government’s 100-day programme a ‘PR stunt’ that was essentially a rehash of the projects announced in the previous Budget.
The programme was a ploy to divert public attention from the governance failure that had affected the State in various spheres, he alleged.
The Congress leader also found fault with the avoidance of assurances for appointments through the Kerala Public Service Commission, a shift from the priority given in the government’s first 100-day programme last year. Alleging that backdoor appointments were being made to all government departments, Mr. Satheesan claimed 250 office attendant and a hundred typist posts had been downsized in the Secretariat, dashing the hopes of several aspirants.
“With unemployment rate at an all-time high, the government ought to have formulated schemes to provide employment to scores of skilled youngsters who were rendered jobless during the COVID-19 lockdown,” he said.
Referring to the government’s promise of boosting Internet connectivity, Mr. Satheesan accused the government of falling a long way short of its target announced in the 2017-18 Budget to bring 20 lakh BPL families under the Kerala Fire Optic Network (K-FON) project within 18 months.
“The government has now announced that 14,000 families will be given free Internet connections. While it has become apparent that the project would require years to attain fruition, K-FON has turned a refuge for many people including the (UAE gold smuggling case accused) Swapna Suresh’s husband,” he alleged.
He accused the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government of trimming the beneficiary list for the LIFE Mission housing project despite setting lofty goals of providing houses for all homeless families in the State by 2021. By fixing “strange guidelines,” the government has allegedly attempted to deny the benefit of the scheme to large sections. While over 9.2 lakh applicants sought assistance in the last phase of the project, only nearly 5.8 lakh have been scrutinised. Among these, only 3.76 lakh people have been found to be eligible for the housing scheme, leaving the rest in the lurch,” Mr. Satheesan said.
He also blamed the government for failing to pay for the crop procured from farmers, despite urging all sections to take up farming. Crop insurance had also been defunct in the State.
Mr. Satheesan also felt that the Chief Minister was driven to staunchly back M. Sivasankar for fear of further disclosures in the UAE gold smuggling case. The Chief Minister’s office had become a safe haven for racketeers, economic offenders and anti-social elements, he said.
