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Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday asked the Centre to address the challenges of cooperative federalism.
In his address at the seventh Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he demanded that legislation on subjects in the concurrent list should be initiated only after adequate consultations with the state governments and that Central government should desist from legislation on items on the state list. Vijayan also sought urgent initiatives from the Centre to enhance necessary legal remedies in the wake of the Supreme Court judgment on eco-sensitive zones, as this was necessary to alleviate the hardships of the marginalised section of people living in the affected areas. He also drew the attention of the Council to the issue of GST and demanded the review of imposition of GST on essential items and continuing the compensation to the states for another five years. The Chief Minister also said that Kerala was in the forefront of the decentralisation initiatives where all the functions in the Constitution's 11th and 12th Schedules have been devolved to the local self-government, and that this important achievement needs to be addressed while distributing the consolidated funds to the state. He also said that the central share of assistance under PMAY Urban and Rural needs to be revised considering the upward cost of construction materials. Vijayan said that to move towards more eco-friendly transport system and alleviate accidents, the state seeks support from the centre for early clearance of the state's pending rail and air traffic proposals. He said that Kerala has a 590 km coastal belt and that it was vulnerable to soil erosion, especially during extreme rainfall, and thus requires technological and financial support. Noting that the Centre has reduced the quota of kerosene or the state recently and this has affected the fishermen folk badly, he sought that the allotment be reinstated. This was the first meeting of NITI Aayog after the new Vice Chairperson Suman Berry and CEO Parameswaran Ayyar assumed office. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal and Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari were also present, along with other Chief Ministers. --IANS aal/vd ( 386 Words) 2022-08-07-23:18:02 (IANS)
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