CM Pinarayi Vijayan seeks report cards from ministers

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday informed LDF state leadership that he had sought report cards from ministers in the wake of allegations that the government was functioning at a slow pace. The chief minister who was presiding over the meeting said each department had been asked to submit a report on their activities. Corrective measures would be taken, if required, after examining reports. The LDF constituents had apprised the meeting of the widespread criticism about government’s laid-back approach.

During the discussion on KSRTC related issues, NCP state president Uzhavoor Vijayan said that the government had left the Transport Minister to fend for himself.  At a time when the KSRTC was struggling to come out of crisis, AITUC taking out a march to the minister’s residence was unacceptable. The CPI leaders present in the meeting assured that similar agitations would not be allowed. The recent CPM-CPI differences came up though briefly, at the meeting. Janata Dal (S) leaders raised the matter saying that the public spat between two major parties was creating confusion in the minds of  people besides creating wrong impression about the government.

Later at a press conference LDF convenor Vaikom Viswan refuted the reports. “There are no major issues between the two parties. The difference of opinion on issues is natural,” he said. Meanwhile, LDF leadership said that the CM had not sought report cards. “We had earlier decided to evaluate the functioning of different departments. This is not connected with the slow down in any way. It was a decision taken earlier and at the meeting today we decided to effectively carry out this exercise. It is a positive step,” said a senior CPI leader.