Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 5 (IANS) The Left opposition was in protest mode demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy but Kerala Governor P.Sathasivam on Friday in his address to the assembly cited Albert Einstein to give full credit to his five-year tenure.
“Einstein once said that all that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded to an individual.
“Going by that saying, I am proud to say that the last five years of my government has been a golden age of opportunities – an age where dreams came true, an age that propelled Kerala towards a fast trajectory of growth and development, an age which has opened several doors that is going to bring in more and more opportunities for a holistic development of the people of Kerala,” he said.
“This in fact has been the vision of the government from day one, when we declared that ‘Development with care’, will be the government’s motto, which has been guiding us to achieve so many feats during our tenure,” he added.
Sathasivam also spoke tough when the Left opposition was up in arms demanding the resignation of Chandy over the various scams that has surfaced and he asked them either to sit quiet or leave the house as he has a constitutional job to do.
At this, the entire Left opposition boycotted his address and sat in protest outside the assembly campus.
Sathasivam said the Chandy government’s tenure saw successful realisation of some of the major infrastructure projects like the Kochi Metro, the green signal given to the Light Metro projects in Kozhikode and here, the steady progress of the Kannur airport, the Kochi Smart City and also the commencement of the Vizhinjam Port.
He also lauded the government’s efforts to the declaration of the first ever start-up policy in the country.
Sathasivam said that the government has done exemplary work in sectors like agriculture, environment, e-governance, education, housing, rural development sector and health.
Elaborating on the various steps taken to help Non-Resident Keralites, who contribute to the state’s economic development by very large extent he said that the the NRI (Keralites) Commission Act, 2015 is a major step to protect their properties and interests.
He noted 3,835 people who were stranded in strife-torn countries like Iraq, Libya and Yemen were brought back home safely.
Sathasivam also complimented the new liquor policy of the government “The vision of my government is to build a liquor-free society and eradication of drug abuse. True to this vision my government took the bold step of closing down 730 bars in Kerala as part of the government’s policy to achieve complete ban on liquor over a period of ten years. Already 78 retail outlets have been closed by Kerala State Beverages Corporation.”
But CPI-M politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan, who is on a state-wide yathra, told reporters in Idukki that not much importance need to be given to the governor’s address because he just reads out what the government gives him.
“The people of the state had a tough time during the five years of this government and it was the corrupt government of Chandy that had a golden period,” he said.