Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy met Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Thursday and sought a Central assistance of Rs. 375 crore to the State for disbursing compensation to the victims of pesiticide, Endosulfan. The government has plans to build a super speciality hospital for them at Kasargode.

Mr. Chandy, who arrived in Delhi on Thursday after assuming chief ministership, announced that he intended to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday and he was hopeful that the names of his Cabinet colleagues from the Congress would be finalised then and the Cabinet expansion would most likely be on May 23.

“I am meeting Ms. Gandhi tomorrow. I will be meeting her Political Secretary Ahmed Patel. A decision on the ministers from Congress is expected after that,” he told journalists here.

Mr. Chandy, who also met Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary in charge of Kerala Madhusudhan Mistry, said a thorough discussion was held in Kerala on who should be included in the ministry. Asked whether there would be new faces in his ministry, he said he did not want to discuss in public the deliberations he had with his party leader.

To another question, Mr. Chandy said he had no apprehension about the continuation of his government for the full five year term in view of wafer-thin majority enjoyed by him.

Regarding his meeting with Dr. Singh, he said : “The National Human Rights Commission has recommended several measures for helping Endosulfan victims. We have accepted those proposals. I urged Dr. Singh to allocate Rs.375 crore as Central assistance for those affected by the pesticide.”

He also took up the issue relating to implementation of the Kochi metro project on the lines of Chennai and Bangalore metros and better compensation to those whose land were being taken by the National Highways authorities for road projects, with the Prime Minister.

When pointed out that the Planning Commission was opposed to the implementation of the Kochi metro on the lines of Chennai metro model, he said he had taken up the demand and he would wait for the Centre’s response.

Mr. Chandy also called on Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi and others and discussed about the Cabinet expansion.

Share