Farmers Movement Archive

Kerala may move SC against farm bills

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government will seek legal opinion on approaching the Supreme Court against the farm bills passed by the Parliament, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Wednesday. Opposition parties are on a nation-wide agitation alleging that the provisions in the bills are against the interest of farmers. According to Vijayan, such a suggestion was mooted by ministers during the cabinet meeting. The government will take a decision after getting the legal opinion from the law secretary, said the chief minister. In January this year, Kerala filed a suit against the Union government in the Supreme Court, challenging the validity of the citizenship (amendment) act (CAA). The suit was filed under article 131 that gives the Supreme Court jurisdiction in disputes between one or more states and the Central government The state cabinet has also decided to amend the Kerala Micro Small Medium Enterprises Facilitation Act in order to provide more relaxations in getting licences to start a new unit. An ordinance will be brought in to amend the act. The amendment will ensure that the licences required to begin a unit will be granted within seven working days. The cabinet has approved the draft recommendations to amend the Kerala Municipality Building Rules and Kerala Panchayat Building Rules of 2019. Various trade and business organizations from construction, industry and allied sectors in the state have been raising complaints that certain provisions in the act will have adverse impacts on the constructions of hospital complexes, educational institutions, offices, auditoriums, etc. The government had decided to conduct a detailed study and as per the new recommendations, an amendment will be brought in the rule which made a 10m road width mandatory in above 18,000sq feet constructions. Accordingly, the width of the road will be reduced to 8meters. The formula formulated for calculating the floor area ratio will also be cancelled and the government has decided to go with the old one. The state cabinet has appointed Dr Akhil C Banerjee, emeritus scientist at the National Institute of Immunology as the director of the Institute of Advanced Virology at Thonnakkal in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Times of India

2020-09-24

Thiruvananthapuram