E Chandrasekharan should rethink of remaining as Revenue Minister: Chennithala

Thiruvananthapuram: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala on Saturday said he sympathizes with Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan, “who is not capable of even to control the secretary of his department.”

Talking about the ongoing tussle between the Revenue Minister and P H Kurian, the Principal Secretary of the department, Chennithala said Chandrasekharan should think if he wants remain in the Cabinet in such a position.

“We will not allow the government to redraw the boundaries of the Kurinji sanctuary in Idukki. A team of representatives of the UDF will visit the sanctuary on December 6,” he said.

The Left government’s decision to set up a ministerial sub-committee for settling lands disputes related to Kurinjimala sanctuary in Idukki has cast a shadow on the sanctuary’s continued existence in its proposed area.

The decision’s aftershocks also affected the government with the Revenue Minister coming out against the Principal Secretary (Revenue) over the issue.
At the meeting convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan the other day, P H Kurian had said the sanctuary will lose around 1,200 hectares after the land disputes are settled.

Chandrasekharan said Kurian should not have aired such an opinion. The minister also said Kurian’s expressed his personal opinion, not the government’s stand. “Kurian has no right to announce any decision (of the government). The government will not take his opinion on face value,” Chandrasekharan said. He said the government was not preoccupied on the matter at all.

“The 3,200 hectares of land of Kurinjimala Sanctuary has not been demarcated after a survey. The government aims to fix the sanctuary’s original extent. None of the original title holders will be evicted during the process. The surveying aims at finding out the encroachers. There is no hidden agenda for the government,” he said.