Muraleedharan slams Kerala govt ordinance as eyewash

Thiruvananthapuram, March 25 (IANS) The lone Keralite in the Modi Cabinet, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan on Wednesday termed the floating of a new ordinance by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to tackle COVID-19 as nothing but an eyewash and playing to the gallery.

As on date the total number of coronavirus cases in Kerala is 118 and there are 76,542 people under observation, of which 532 are at various hospitals and the rest at their homes.

Muraleedharan reacted to the new Kerala Epidemics Diseases Act on Facebook.

“When I heard about this new ordinance, all I could do was but to laugh. The decision that Vijayan said was through this ordinance floated today was to give absolute powers to the state government to deal with the present scenario – Covid-19,” said Muraleedharan.

“His statement implied that at present there are no rules for this. Why are you (CM) trying to fool people of Kerala? What you should have done was, you should have at least read the 2005-Disaster Management Act 51 to 60,” wrote Muraleedharan.

“What one fails to understand is why is that when there are laws already, instead of making use of it, what was the need for floating a new one. The Centre had come with a detailed lockdown order where everything is clearly stated. This ordinance is more than a publicity stunt.

“All what I have to say is please set aside your arrogance and selfishness and join hands with the Centre to fight Covid-19,” added the Union minister, who is in self-imposed isolation, after he attended a meeting at a premier hospital here where a medical professional turned coronavirus positive, earlier this month.

–IANS

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