Kerala CM dumps 20kg of ‘complaints’ UAE NRIs gave him

The Mass Contact Programme of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, during his short visit to the UAE, to address the problems haunting the overseas Keralite community in the UAE turned out to be an embarrassment as many people who reached the Sharjah Indian Association to air their grievances were either turned away or their problems were not properly addressed.

At the Sharjah Indian Association Auditorium, the visiting minister held a mass meeting in which he received thousands of petitions from Malayalee expatriates. He was assisted in the process by KC Joseph, Minister for Non-Resident Keralites.

The mass contact programme held in Sharjah was the first-of-its-kind held by Chandy outside Kerala and, according to the CM’s office, turned out to be bigger than expected.

Addressing the gathering, Chandy said: “Kerala government is aware of the various issues faced by Malayalees in the Gulf and will address them in an earnest manner.”

He added that all petitions collected during the programme will be checked and necessary steps taken through departments concerned. If there are interventions required from the central government, that would also be done, he said. The actions taken on the petitions collected will also be conveyed to the Sharjah Indian Association, he added.

According to social workers who attended the programme, a few thousand Non-Resident Keralites turned up at the venue where there was a total mayhem due to overcrowd.

“We have got hundreds of complaints from Non-Resident Keralites who wanted to meet Chandy. As there was an overwhelming response to the open invitation, he could not meet some of the NRKs with problems, but their issues will be heard by the CM’s office. I have been assigned to report all the cases and complaints to the CM’s office. The Indian Association Sharjah and others continue to receive complaints addressed to the CM,” said MG Pushpakaran, President, Overseas Indian Cultural Congress, UAE President.

The petitions received by the Chief Minister are still lying in the UAE as he could not carry the bulky cargo. It is learnt that he couldn’t carry them all because, put together, the complaints weighed more than 20kg.

Pushpakaran, an aide of the CM, has also received several complaints at a lunch meeting organised at his villa in Satwa and other Congress related associations and leaders too received several complaints from individuals and organisations representing the Keralite community in the UAE.

Pushpakaran said the CM is keen to learn about each and every complaint that he received during his visit and that he has assigned the OICC and the Indian Association to continue to receive such complaints and forward details to the CM’s office in Thiruvananthapuram.

It is being said the CM or his secretary could not carry 20kg ‘extra baggage’ in the aircraft, and that the same has now been assigned to OICC President Pushpakaran to study and forward the same to the CM’s office with his notes.

“I am yet to fully study the complaints. Two bundles of complaints weigh more than 20 kilograms and I will be taking them personally to his office. Meanwhile, we continue to receive complaints and those who could not register their names or give their complaints directly can do it now. They can forward the same to the OICC, the Indian Association Sharajah and each complaint will be addressed properly,” Pushpakaran affirmed.

While only 300 people were expected at the Meet the Chief Minister programme organised at the Indian Association Hall, Sharjah, more than 2,000 people turned up, many of them with complaints of relatives or friends in jail, people whose property back home has been illegally occupied by criminals, and problems haunting the NRK families back home, said Punnakkan Mohammed Ali, General Secretary of OICC UAE Committee.

Mohammed Ali, along with other local Congress leaders, was following Chandy and four other ministers who visited the UAE. Non-Resident Keralite affairs Minister KC Joseph also went around with Chandy, addressing various issues raised by the people.

However, social workers have different views on the alleged neglect by the CM. Says MCA Naser, Middle East Bureau Chief of Media One, a television channel that reported the mayhem. “It was a very poorly organised event and each association members or leaders wanted to take photographs with the CM or other Ministers.

“It looked like a public relations exercise and for people who booked in advance to meet the CM, their complainants were not addressed. In one case, a property owned by a UAE NRK back home has been illegally occupied and he claims to not receiving any support from the Kerala government. A lot of such issues came up during the meet. Many people were agitated because they could not air their problems directly to the state CM. It was a bad show.”

Punnakkan Mohammed Ali denies the allegations, at least in part: “All the complaints registered with the CM will be properly addressed. The problem was caused by many petty leaders who wanted to click photographs with the CM and this denied a chance to the right people. A wheelchair-bound mother and her daughter’s plea for help was addressed. Their son is jailed in Muscat and the family came all the way from Kerala to Sharjah to meet the CM,” Ali said.

“Due to time constraints and the huge crowd, he could not immediately study all the complaints. It was an event meant for 300 people, but the crowed spilled over to the main road. There were a few thousand people at the Indian Association Sharjah for the evening programme,” he added.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.