Pinarayi Vijayan,  @vijayanpinarayi – Chief Minister of Kerala:

• We welcome the Union Govt’s decision to cut the salaries and pensions of MPs by 30%.
• However, we feel that the decision to suspend MPLADS is illogical and amounts to an anti-federal move.
• Some MPs of Kerala were making good use of it; which will now be lost to the State.
• States are entitled to MPLADS funds, and the decision to centralise these funds will immensely weaken the efforts of state governments against #COVID19.
• Decentralized interventions are most effective when it comes to tackling disasters or epidemics.
• Local Self Government institutions have played a major role in flood rescue, relief and rehabilitation in Kerala.
• It is time to prioritize many activities that need to be done locally.
• The assistance provided by the Centre to states for COVID19 efforts are unequal and discriminatory in nature.
• So the urgent need of the funds are at local level to efficiently target the district/municipality/panchayat level interventions to maximize the benefit to the distressed segment.
• The Centre should reconsider their decision and the MPLADS fund should be restored to improve the response of the states to #COVID19.