Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 4 (IANS) Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday moved a resolution in the Kerala Legislative Assembly under Rule 118, expressing deep concern and strong protest over what he described as the Centre’s “continued neglect and discriminatory” approach towards Kerala on a range of critical issues.
Moving the resolution, the Chief Minister said a nation can command respect globally only when all its constituent states are secure, developed and prosperous.
Weakening states, he argued, would ultimately weaken the nation itself.
The Constitution, through its three-tier system of governance, enshrines the principle of federalism, which is now being steadily undermined.
Pinarayi Vijayan said Kerala’s legitimate demands over the past several years have repeatedly failed to receive due consideration from the Centre, causing widespread disappointment among the people.
The continued disregard shown towards Kerala, which has presented development models of global recognition, amounted to a dilution of democratic federal values and raised serious concerns about the health of Indian democracy.
He pointed out that balanced regional development alone could ensure national progress and warned that the Union Government’s recent budgets increasingly violated this principle.
Citing healthcare, he recalled that Kerala has been seeking an AIIMS for over two decades and has already identified land and completed most acquisition procedures.
Despite this, the Centre has taken no action, and the Union Budget remains silent on the issue. The Assembly unanimously demanded that an AIIMS be sanctioned for Kerala without delay.
On employment, the Chief Minister said Kerala has been at the forefront of implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The conversion of the scheme into VB-G RAM G has reduced central assistance from 100 per cent to 60 per cent, resulting in an estimated loss of Rs 3,800 crore to the state.
Further, the sharp reduction in national allocation for the scheme in the 2026-27 Budget would severely affect Kerala.
He also flagged neglect in rail infrastructure, noting that the 573-km Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod stretch still takes nearly 13 hours to traverse.
Regardless of the model adopted, Kerala urgently needs a high-speed rail corridor, but repeated requests have gone unaddressed.
Approval for a proposed coach factory and surveys for additional railway lines have also been denied.
On infrastructure, the Chief Minister said the Centre adopted a discriminatory approach. Requests for granting “point of call” status to Kannur airport for foreign airlines were ignored.
He accused the Centre of adopting an inhumane stance on disaster relief, citing inadequate compensation for the Mundakkai-Chooralmala disaster and amendments removing loan write-off provisions for disaster victims.
He also highlighted sharp cuts in Kerala’s borrowing limits, revenue deficit grants, IGST dues and centrally sponsored scheme allocations, describing these as financial strangulation.
The resolution called upon the Centre to urgently correct its approach, uphold cooperative federalism, and ensure justice to Kerala in the interest of balanced national development.
Speaker A.N. Shamseer later announced that the resolution was passed.
The opposition, however, maintained that it had not been officially informed about the presentation of the resolution, and before it was read out by CM Vijayan, they had boycotted the day’s proceedings, protesting against the way the Sabarimala gold heist case was being manipulated by the Vijayan government.
–IANS
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