7 months ago
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Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan connected Thursday (October 30, 2025) questioned the timing of the announcement of a acceptable of payment measures by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, saying these were aimed astatine “covering up the embarrassment” caused by the contention implicit signing up for the PM SHRI project.
The Congress person asked wherefore it took 4 and a fractional years for the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) to summation societal information pension to ₹2,000 per period though it had mentioned successful its canvass manifesto successful 2021 that the magnitude would beryllium hiked to ₹2,500 erstwhile it comes to power.
“Whatever the authorities announces for the mediocre and communal people, we afloat invited it. But the information is the LDF has announced an summation of conscionable ₹400 successful pension, though 5 years agone it had promised to hike the pension to ₹2,500 from ₹1,600. The announcement has been made adjacent arsenic the section assemblage elections are acceptable to beryllium announced wrong a week. After the elections, it volition beryllium clip for the Assembly polls. The authorities did not instrumentality the hike successful 4.5 years. It failed to support its promise,” Mr. Satheesan said.
He said the authorities should beryllium paying a compensation of ₹52,000 per beneficiary connected relationship of the ₹900 hike it had promised erstwhile it came to power.
‘ASHA honorarium hike meagre’
Mr. Satheesan besides slammed what helium called “a meagre increase” successful the honorarium for Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs). “ASHA workers person been connected onslaught demanding a wage hike, and the authorities has ridiculed them and oppressed their agitation. They person been demanding a minimum of ₹700 per day. They get lone ₹233 now. The hike of ₹1,000 announced for ASHAs amounts to lone ₹33 per day. That should beryllium increased,” helium said.
Mr. Satheesan reiterated the Opposition’s complaint that the State has been going done an unprecedented fiscal crisis. “The dues successful Kshemanidhi schemes magnitude to ₹2,500 crore. The authorities has to wage ₹1,800 crore successful owed to hospitals connected relationship of the Karunya scheme,” Mr. Satheesan said.
He besides said that six instalments of dearness allowances for authorities employees are pending.
Mr. Satheesan said the Opposition would denote its payment measures successful owed people and instrumentality them “through its archetypal Budget aft coming to powerfulness aft the Assembly elections.”
He reiterated that the government’s determination to name a Cabinet sub-committee to analyse the PM SHRI task aft signing up for it was aimed astatine “hoodwinking” the CPI, which registered beardown objection to the government’s move.
“The Chief Minister should uncover who blackmailed him to motion up for the PM SHRI task by keeping it a concealed from his ain cabinet,” Mr. Satheesan said.
