UDF Government Treating Welfare Schemes as Favours Not Rights of Public, Says Pinarayi Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram: Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan has accused the UDF government of undermining the LDF’s policy that welfare schemes are the rights of the people and instead portraying them as acts of generosity by the government.

He said the Transport Minister’s remarks describing women as rushing into buses to avail themselves of free travel, barely two months after the launch of the scheme, were deeply offensive and insulting.

“Before the election, the UDF had promised free travel for women on all KSRTC buses. However, after coming to power, the government restricted the benefit to ordinary buses. Now, it is not only mocking women who use the scheme by accusing them of pretending to be poor but also shamelessly blaming them for the crisis in the private bus sector, claiming that women are crowding into KSRTC buses,” Pinarayi Vijayan said.

He said the minister’s remarks were not merely a slip of the tongue but reflected the policy approach of the UDF government.

“The government implemented free travel without adequate financial planning or sufficient funding, pushing KSRTC towards a crisis. The Transport Minister is blaming women for the government’s own administrative failures,” he said.

Pinarayi Vijayan said that while the minister was mocking homemakers for not having money, the present government had discontinued the "Sthree Suraksha Scheme", under which ₹1,000 was provided every month to support women’s welfare.

He also alleged that attempts were being made behind the scenes to weaken Kudumbashree, which has been a model for women’s empowerment in Keralam. The mass layoffs in Kudumbashree were an indication of this approach, he said.

“The government also intends to discontinue the LIFE Mission, which provided houses to 5.5 lakh people. No funds required to continue the project have been allocated in the Budget,” he alleged.

The LDF government’s "Sthree Suraksha Scheme" had supported nearly 16 lakh financially disadvantaged women without political discrimination, he said.

“After discontinuing this popular welfare scheme, the government is now trampling upon the dignity of the limited number of women who use the Priyadarshini scheme for free travel,” Pinarayi Vijayan said, registering his protest against the government’s approach.