The proposed foreign tours by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and five members of his Council of Ministers have evoked strong criticism from leaders of the Opposition parties, corporate heads as well the Union Government.
Vijayan accompanied by school Education Minister V Sivankutty and five senior bureaucrats are leaving for a four-day tour to Finland on October 2 seeking foreign direct investment from that country as well as to forge collaboration in the field of education, social security system and possibilities of setting up Ayurveda Centres.
This will be followed by a four-day trip to Norway in which chief minister would be joined by industries minister P Rajeeve, minister for fisheries V Abdul Rehman. Vijayan would hold discussions with entrepreneurs and investors in Norway and invite them to set up enterprises in Kerala.
From Norway, the chief minister’s entourage would be flying to London to seek Britain’s help in strengthening Kerala’s health infrastructure.
Once the chief minister returns to Kerala, his new son-in-law Mohammed Riyaz, who is the minister for PWD and Tourism would fly to Paris to sign agreements and MoU with France to boost the State’s tourism sector.
The foreign jaunts by the chief minister and his cabinet colleagues has evoked widespread criticism. Kummanam Rajasekharan, former Governor of Goa, who is a former BJP president of the State has lambasted the trips terming it as foolhardy.
“Kerala is on the boil with host of issues. The stray dog menace has claimed 25 lives during the last eight months and there were more than 2 lakh dog bites in the first eight months of the current financial year.
“The Covid-19 pandemic continues taking a huge toll on the State. Kerala has never experienced such pathetic plight at any time in the past. The last seven years of the CPI(M) rule has aggravated the issues faced by the State,” said Rajasekharan.