Kerala govt's correction is fine, but what about its implementation?
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Rule 300 of the Legislative Assembly's Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business empowers ministers to make special statements and announcements on urgent and critical matters. When ministers speak under this rule with the Speaker's permission, Opposition members cannot raise points of order to interrupt them. The usual practice in such situations, similar to a budget speech, is for members to listen to the statement in its entirety without asking questions or raising objections, and then respond during the opportunities provided later. Ministers rarely use this rule; the current government has invoked it only four or five times, primarily to announce the second COVID-19 economic package and issue preventive measures during the Nipah outbreak.
However, during the 11th session of the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly, which concluded on Thursday, ministers used Rule 300 to address the House twice. One instance was a speech by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on the state's financial crisis and the arrears in social welfare pensions and government employees' DA, delivered on the eve of the Assembly session's conclusion. The other was an announcement by Education Minister V. Sivankutty the following day regarding the temporary allotment of batches in Malappuram and Kasaragod districts to address the Plus One seat crisis in Malabar. This unprecedented move in Kerala's legislative history deserves analysis for several reasons.
The common element in these two speeches is the corrections in the Left government's policy and governance. These speeches can be seen as a continuation of the assessments conducted at various levels by the CPI(M), the main ruling party, and the Left Front, as well as the statements made by leaders, including the state party secretary, in the wake of the massive setback the Left suffered in the Lok Sabha elections. Public confessions by Left leaders like Binoy Viswam and MA Baby about governance failures have also probably driven this change. They pointed out that the government failed to fully accomplish many projects that were launched with much fanfare. The first Pinarayi government, which enhanced various social security pensions, lost its popularity when the people gave it a second term; now, welfare pensions for about six months are in arrears. There are also six instalments of DA/DR arrears for state government employees. When prices skyrocketed, the government failed to intervene in the open market and exacerbated the situation by pushing Supplyco into crisis. Additionally, there are crores of rupees owed to various contractors.
All of this has intensified anti-government sentiment, and was reflected in the elections. Realizing the need for policy and approach corrections, the Chief Minister announced in the Assembly that he would address these matters that formed the main causes of the electoral defeat. The gist of his more than half-hour-long speech is that all arrears, including welfare pensions, will be cleared by the end of the next financial year. Minister Sivankutty's speech followed up on this theme. For more than 20 years, the Plus One seat crisis in Malabar has been a topic of discussion both inside and outside the Assembly. During this period, the state has witnessed major agitations over this issue, and all governments have taken a negative stand. This time, the minister initially claimed there was no seat crisis in Malabar when Class 10 results came out, dismissing the agitations as politically motivated. However, when public anger forced even student organizations affiliated to the ruling front to strike, the minister and the government had no choice but to correct their flawed approach.
These corrections are welcome. However, there are still doubts about how the corrections will be implemented. More than 60 lakh beneficiaries are to be given a pension of Rs. 1600 per month in five instalments under the welfare pension scheme alone; the Chief Minister has not specified where the Rs. 4200 crore needed for this will come from. Nor is there a clear answer on how the money for other arrears will be raised. All explanations are confined to the vague reply that the entire matter has been handed over to the Chief Secretary. At the same time, the very next day, it was decided to cut down the plan allocation of various departments and reduce expenditure. In other words, the government sees cutting back on planned and implemented projects as a way to increase non-tax revenue. What is the point of this
The decision to increase the Plus One batch is also similar. Out of the 138 batches sanctioned in Malabar, only one is for science! Moreover, the problem of paucity of seats continues in the Kozhikode and Palakkad districts. So, no one can be blamed for doubting that these announcements were just a tactic to show that something was being done and to temporarily quell the ongoing protests. The ruling party would do well to remember that even after this superficial treatment, the protests for survival will continue.
