The Kerala cabinet has decided to cancel the assembly session scheduled to be convened on July 27, in the wake of an alarming rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram and nearby areas. At the same time, a special cabinet meeting will be held on Monday in the state capital where a decision will be taken on imposing a complete lockdown in Kerala.
The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. This would be for the first time that a meeting of the house would get adjourned after a date has been finalised. The government has also taken into consideration the fact that there are 40 MLAs who are above 65 years of age in the current assembly, Onmanorama reported.
It has also been decided to convene a special cabinet meeting on Monday to discuss if a complete lockdown is necessary in the state amid a huge spike in COVID cases. While a second complete lockdown is under the serious consideration of the
Kerala government, various media reports say that majority of the cabinet members are of the opinion that there is no need for a complete lockdown at the moment arguing that it could further impact the livelihoods of the people, especially the marginalised.
Onmanorama reports that while there is a consensus that lockdown should be extended to cover various areas where activities have been allowed since June 1, the chief minister wants a strategy that will not hurt the poor and will keep livelihoods afloat.
In the absence of the assembly session, an all-party meeting will be convened by the chief minister on Friday to discuss the measures taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Many places in the state, especially the coastal areas in Thiruvananthapuram, are witnessing a worrying increase in the number of COVID positives.
The government had drawn criticism for not convening an all-party meeting despite community spread of the disease being confirmed in the state. People have been complaining that COVID tests are not being expanded to cover a larger population. Many areas, including the capital city, have been closed for the past three weeks due to the lockdown to control the community spread of the virus infection.
There are also complaints that the government is not taking steps to help businesses and the general public to overcome the financial crisis caused by the strict lockdown.
On Wednesday, 1,038 new COVID-19 positives were in Kerala, which is the highest single day spike in cases in the state.
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress-led UDF has alleged that the government is shying away from holding the assembly session knowing that the CPI and other LDF partners will not support it in case a no-confidence motion is moved against the speaker and the Pinarayi Vijayan government in light of the gold smuggling case.
(With inputs from Onmanorama)
