THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in his Kerala Piravi day greeting, has called upon the people of the State to uphold secular and democratic values and strengthen the fight against regressive social practices.
Though celebrations marking the State Formation Day on November 1 have been avoided this year on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, Keralites will use the opportunity to rededicate themselves to their language, culture, and State, the Chief Minister said.
He underscored the need to take forward the spirit of the Reformation movement by strengthening the fight against social evils. The Reformation was the primary social movement that led to the birth of the State of Kerala through the unification of Travancore, Cochin, and Malabar, he said.
Landmark legislations pertaining to agrarian relations, land reforms, and education transformed the very character of Kerala, but it should not stop there. The State government aims at comprehensive development of the State through the special missions formed for vegetable farming, sanitation, housing, and healthcare, he said.
The State was able to attract five lakh children to government schools, transform more than 45,000 classrooms into hi-tech learning facilities, and provide housing to 2.25 lakh homeless people overcoming the adversities caused by the floods. These would forever remain shining episodes in the history of the State, he said.
The Chief Minister also stressed the importance of transforming Malayalam, in the fullest sense, the medium of instruction, the language of administration, and the language of the courts.
