The Hindu : Front Page : Cabinet defers decision on Narendran report

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Saturday, Jan 21, 2006

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Cabinet defers decision on Narendran report

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A special meeting of the Cabinet convened here on Friday to discuss the implementation of the recommendations of the Narendran Commission which had examined reservation-related issues dispersed without taking a decision.

Briefing the media afterwards, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the Cabinet would take up the issue once again at its meeting on January 25. The special meeting on Friday was convened at short notice and some of the Ministers could not attend it, he added.

Mr. Chandy said top leaders of the United Democratic Front (UDF) present in the city had met prior to the special Cabinet meeting. Besides the Ministers, Indian Union Muslim League State general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty and UDF convener P.P. Thankachan were among those present at the meeting.

He noted that the Cabinet had at its meeting on Wednesday accepted, in principle, the tenders submitted by a consortium of two Chinese companies and a Mumbai company for the Rs.4,360-crore Vizhinjam harbour project. The State Government would now seek the political clearance of the Union Government before entrusting the work to the consortium. He said this was because a harbour project might have security implications, requiring Central clearance.

Asked for his comments about the reported "efforts of a top political leader close to the Pinarayi Vijayan camp in the CPI(M) to influence the ongoing Vigilance probe into the SNC Lavalin deal," Mr. Chandy said he would not get himself into another controversy. He said he wanted to reassure that, on the Government's part, there would be absolutely no effort to interfere with the Vigilance. "The probe would go according to the merit of the case," he added.

Mr. Chandy said the Vigilance Department, months ago, had asked time till the end of this month to finish the probe. The Government had not set any deadline. "There were complaints that the probe was getting unduly delayed. All I did was to call the officers for a discussion to bring these complaints to their notice. And they said they would finish the probe by the end of January," he said.

Answering another question, he said getting the Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran) back into the Congress was not on the agenda of his party at the moment. As of now, there is unity in the Congress and excellent rapport between the party and the Government, he said.

Referring to the January 24 strike called by various service organisations to press for pay revision, he said the Government had already assured them that the Government employees and teachers would get revised salaries with effect from March this year The principle of `no work, no pay' would apply to those participating in the strike, he added.

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