Government employees in the district of Kasargod, Kerala have been ordered to attend the state government’s outreach programme, Nava Kerala Sadas, on 19 November 2023. Cancellation of a holiday and making it a working day has not gone down well with the public.
Kasaragod Collector Inbasekar Kalimuthu issued an order directing all government employees in the district to be present at the Nava Kerala Sadas events as part of which Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his ministers would be touring all 140 constituencies of the state.
The Collector has asked the heads of departments to assign duties to the employees at the event in their respective constituencies in Kasargod on Saturday and Sunday. District heads have been ordered to ensure that all employees participate in the events, which is why Sunday has been declared a working day for government staff.
The district heads had been ordered to ensure that the employees are allocated duties before 16 November and submit a copy of the allocation to the Collector’s office.
People are disgruntled as the event entails a lot of expenditure, for which they feel the taxpayers’ money is being used at a time when the state government is facing financial challenges.
Instead of spending on an event to showcase their achievement, people feel the state government should focus on disbursing social welfare pensions and benefits.
It is reported that cooperative societies and other local bodies are being forced to contribute towards the expenses of the event. Members of the rural job guarantee scheme are also being forced to participate in the event.
Reports say that members have been threatened with removal from the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) if they fail to participate.
