New Delhi, Aug 7 (BPNS)
Kerala Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan said that the centre needs to address the challenges of cooperative federalism. He was speaking at the seventh Governing council meeting of NITI Aayog at the cultural centre, Rashtrapathi Bhavan. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister, Amit Shah.
He demanded that legislation on subjects in the concurrent list should be initiated only after adequate consultations with the state governments and that central government should desist from legislation on the items on the state list.
Pinarayi Vijayan also sought urgent initiations from Centre to enhance necessary legal remedies in the wake of the Supreme Court judgment on Eco-sensitive zones. He said that it was necessary to alleviate the hardships of the marginalised section of people living in the affected areas.
He also drew the attention of the council to the issue of GST and demanded the review of imposition of GST on essential items and requested to continue the compensation to the states for another five years.
The Kerala Chief Minister also said that Kerala was in the forefront of the decentralization initiatives where all the functions in the 11th and 12th Schedules of the constitution have been devolved to the local self-government. Pinarayi Vijayan said that this important achievement needs to be addressed while distributing the consolidated funds to the state.
He also said that the central share of assistance under PMAY Urban and Rural needs to be revised considering the upward cost of construction materials.
Vijayan said that to move towards more eco-friendly transport system and alleviate accidents, the state seeks support from the centre for early clearance of the state’s pending rail and air traffic proposals.
He said that Kerala has a 590 km coastal belt and that it was vulnerable to soil erosion, especially during extreme rainfalls that require technological and financial support. The centre has reduced the quota of Kerosene allotment for the state recently and this has affected the fishermen folk badly. The Kerala Chief Minister demanded to reinstate the allotment.
He also said that the K-FON project of the Kerala government was to bridge the gap of digital divide in the education sector. The Kerala Chief Minister also drew attention to the achievements of the state in creating a comprehensive model in coordination of farming, animal husbandry and fisheries which is an emulative model for other states.
This was the first meeting of NITI Aayog after the new vice chairperson Suman Berry and CEO Parameswaran Ayyar assumed office.
Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, Minister of Food, Public Distribution, Piyush Goyal and Minister for Road, Transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari were also present.
