KL This Week: Guv Complains to Prez About CM; BYJU’s Reverses Decision to Shut State Operations

In yet another move against the LDF government, governor of Kerala, Arif Mohammed Khan has written to the president claiming that he was not informed of the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s recent foreign visit. The governor has alleged that the CM  did not meet him before and after the trip. 

The Vice Chancellors (VC) of the state universities, to whom the governor issued show cause notices, have approached the court seeking relief. After the continuous intervention of the governor on governance in the state, the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] is reportedly looking for ways to remove the governor as the chancellor of state universities.

Byju’s, the online education platform has reversed its decision to close down operations in the state, headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram. The decision was announced after the chief executive officer (CEO) of the organisation met CM Vijayan. 

The left Democratic Front (LDF) has put on hold the decision to increase the age of retirement from 58 to 60 in the state public sector undertakings (PSU). NewsClick brings a roundup of the happenings in Kerala this week. 

GOVERNOR WRITES TO PRESIDENT

The tussle between the governor and the government seems to be a never-ending saga as the former has alleged the CM of not appraising him of the recent foreign trip. Khan has claimed that the CM has avoided the customary meeting and had not informed him about the arrangements made during his absence. 

The CPI(M) has reportedly had a discussion on the possible options for removing the governor from the chancellor position at the state universities. 

CONGRESS WANTS TO DISMISS LDF GOVT

The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K Sudhakaran has called for the dismissal of the LDF government. The CPI(M) state committee condemned the comments and asked the Congress national leadership to clarify the statement. 

The CPI(M) statement questioned the Congress’s understanding of the Supreme Court judgement on the S R Bommai case. 

VICE CHANCELLORS APPROACH HIGH COURT

The Kerala High Court has granted more time to the VCs of the universities to respond to the notice of the governor on removing them. The court directed the VCs to submit the responses by 5 pm on November 7. The governor had directed them to submit explanations by November 5. 

The governor issued show cause notice on October 24 to the seven VCs after the tussle between the governor and the government had worsened. The VCs approached the high court seeking relief from the notice. 

BYJU’S TO STAY IN KERALA

After a meeting with the CM, the CEO of BYJU’s has decided to continue operations from Techno Park, Thiruvananthapuram. All its 140 employees will continue to work from the office after being initially asked to quit. 

Prathidhwani, an organisation of IT employees in the state, has approached the labour commissioner on the organisation’s decision to shut down operations. The representatives of the organisation and BYJU were present during the talks. 

GOVT RETRACTS ORDER INCREASING RETIREMENT AGE

The finance ministry of Kerala issued an order to increase the retirement age of the employees in the state PSUs to 60. After opposition from several youth and student organisations, including the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the order was put on hold. 

The decision was announced after the meeting of the state cabinet. An expert committee has recommended increasing the retirement age to 60 to make the retirement age uniform across all PSUs.

KERALA PURASKARAM AWARDS ANNOUNCED

The government of Kerala has constituted the award called ‘Kerala Puraskaram’, which is inspired by the Padma awards. ‘Kerala Jyothi’, the highest honour award in the state, has been announced for M T Vasudevan Nair, a renowned author and director.

Playwright Omchery N N Pillai, former bureaucrat T Madhava Menon and actor Mammootty will receive the ‘Kerala Prabha’ awards. Biologist Sathyabhama Das Biju, magician Gopinath Muthukad, sculptor Kanayi Kunjiraman, industrialist Kochouseph Chittilappilly, nuclear engineer M P Parameswaran and playback singer Vaikom Vijayalakshmi will receive the ‘Kerala Shree’ awards. 

M V GOVINDAN INDUCTED IN CPI(M) PB

The CPI(M) central committee, which was in session for three days from October 29, has decided to induct Kerala state secretary M V Govindan to the politbureau. He was appointed to fill the vacancy that arose due to the demise of former state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan