Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said here on Tuesday that the State faced no financial crisis though its finances were tight.
Maintaining that the recent statements of both Finance Minister K.M. Mani and Electricity and Transport Minister Aryadan Mohammed on the State’s finances were true, the Chief Minister said that record amounts were being spent on development in the State.
Despite its limitations, the government had provided maximum benefits to its employees. A large number of posts had been created, including 10,000 posts of teachers. Empanelled workers of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) were confirmed. Welfare pensions were increased, spending Rs.91 crore additionally. A sum of Rs.200 crore had just been released for repair of roads damaged during monsoon. Sufficient funds had been sanctioned for market intervention.
Talking to the media after a meeting of the Cabinet, Mr. Chandy said the KSRTC and the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) were important institutions that provided quality services to the public. So, the government should support them. The government had not considered downward revision of power tariffs in view of improved generation from hydroelectric projects.
Solar scam
He said the government had nothing to hide in the solar panel scam. The terms of reference for the proposed judicial inquiry would provide for a probe that would leave no stone unturned. The Opposition’s proposals on the terms of reference were being considered by the government. The High Court’s reply on sparing the services of a sitting judge was awaited.
He denied that any talks had taken place regarding withdrawal of the Secretariat siege by the Opposition. The Opposition was against talks and he had criticised that. However, their proposals regarding the terms of reference would not be ignored just because they had not come forward for talks. He would look into the delay in filing charge sheet in one of the seven major solar scam-related cases.
The Chief Minister expressed surprise that textbooks had not reached students of standards 5, 6, and 7 in three districts. He would enquire about that with the Director of Public Instruction.
