Kerala govt rules out reviving Loka Kerala Sabha in LDF-era format
Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan has ruled out reviving the Loka Kerala Sabha in its previous LDF-era format, saying no funds were allocated for its sixth edition.
The Kerala government will not bring back the Loka Kerala Sabha in the form in which it functioned under the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan has said.
In a statement issued on Monday, Mr. Satheesan described the decision to discontinue the diaspora platform as a "political decision" of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and made clear that the front's position on the matter remains unchanged. No allocation has been made for a sixth edition of the Sabha, he added.
The Chief Minister's remarks follow media reports suggesting that the UDF government was weighing whether to continue the initiative.
According to the statement, the Loka Kerala Sabha secretariat continues to function from an office, with funds provided only for its administrative costs and for programmes such as the Business Leadership Meet organised through NoRKA, the department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs. Mr. Satheesan said welfare schemes for expatriates are a priority for the government and that the money released is meant for the preliminary work needed to take such proposals forward.
The State has recently sanctioned ₹2 crore towards administrative expenses, along with ₹1 crore each for the Pravasi Mission — a key recommendation of the fourth Loka Kerala Sabha — and the Sherpa project, which is intended to guide non-resident investors.
The UDF had earlier faulted the Loka Kerala Sabha for dividing expatriates into categories and for what it described as lavish spending. The platform was set up by the previous LDF government to connect the global Malayali diaspora and to draw Non-Resident Keralites into the State's legislative and developmental processes.