The Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) registered its protest in the Kerala Assembly on Monday over the non-disbursal of monthly pension for unemployed women as well as transwomen under the Sthree Suraksha Scheme after the United Democratic Front (UDF) government took charge.

Although Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan disallowed its notice for an adjournment motion on the issue, the LDF chose to continue to participate in the proceedings after Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan formally marked the Opposition’s protest, contrary to the usual practice of staging a walkout.

The Speaker declined to admit the adjournment motion based on Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan’s explanation that the government can continue with the scheme only after a scrutiny of the beneficiary lists. Mr. Satheesan alleged that the previous LDF government had implemented it at the fag end of its term, just before the 2026 Assembly elections.

“An amount of ₹1,770 crore has been allocated in the Budget for this scheme. We have not decided that the scheme will be discontinued just because the previous government had implemented it. There have been several complaints about the beneficiary list, especially that it was prepared without any field-level checks. No committee was constituted in any local body to select the beneficiaries, who were selected by party local and area committees. We will have to verify these complaints before deciding whether to continue with the scheme,” said the Chief Minister.

Govt stance unfair: Vijayan

Mr. Vijayan said that it was “unfair” on the part of the government to take “such an attitude towards women.”

“The Chief Minister is still not making it clear whether the government will continue with the scheme. The claim that the beneficiary selection was political is false, as anyone could have submitted the online application. The most number of applications were received from Malappuram district, followed by Palakkad. The scrutiny was conducted in a transparent manner by the local bodies and also by integrating the scheme applications with government systems, including K-SMART, Aadhaar, ration cards, the SPARK system for service pensioners, Treasury services and birth and death databases, to ensure that the applicants are not drawing any other benefits from the government and that they are AAY, BPL card holders,” said Mr. Vijayan. 

Mr. Vijayan said around 14 lakh applications were received through the portal in the first two weeks, from which 10 lakh applicants were found to be eligible after scrutiny. Currently, the scheme has 16 lakh beneficiaries, with 5 lakh more pending applications on which no action has been taken.

CPI(M) MLA A.C. Moideen, who along with CPI MLA K. Rajan and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA P.K. Praveen had moved the adjournment motion, said that no other State has implemented a social security scheme “by giving value to the domestic work” carried out by women. He said the LDF government had in its Budget earlier this year allocated ₹3,720 crore for the scheme.

“The implementation of the scheme began in October 2025, not just before the elections. The beneficiaries have come from even local bodies ruled by the UDF, after vetting by committees in which all parties are represented,” he said.

Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar’s policy address to the 16th Kerala Legislative Assembly on Friday (May 29, 2026) envisioned the creation of a ‘Puthuyuga Keralam,’ built on people-centric, transparent and clean governance. Mr. Arlekar’s address, which lasted for a little over an hour, promised administrative efficiency, fiscal accountability and a “responsible financial recovery strategy” for the State.

Kerala Assembly session highlights – May 29, 2026

Primarily, the policy speech sought to expand on the poll promises of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), particularly the Indira Guarantees and the ‘Dream Projects’ aimed at transforming Kerala into a port-led hub and a civil aviation hub. It also reiterated the government’s plan to hike the welfare pensions to a monthly ₹3000.

Prominent among individual announcements were a three-day monthly menstrual leave for school students, unyielding ‘tactical assaults’ on organised narcotics networks, the establishment of Jawaharlal Nehru Scientific Centres to inculcate scientific temper and a “comprehensive revision” of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008.

The policy address listed public finance, youth unemployment, rising living costs, uncertainties in the farm sector and traditional industries and environmental degradation as challenges faced by the State.

A major thrust of the Governor’s address was on recovery strategies on the fiscal front, although it was devoid of direct criticism of the BJP-led Union government. Observing that outstanding liabilities and fiscal constraints place severe pressure on public finance, the policy speech noted that the white paper planned by the government on Kerala’s fiscal health would provide “a clear picture of the State’s finances and for laying the foundation for a transparent and responsible financial recovery strategy.”

Efforts would be made to protect the State’s rights within the framework of Indian federalism and secure “rightful financial allocations and fair and equitable treatment from the Union government.” The State government “believes strongly in cooperative federalism and constructive engagement” with the Centre while “firmly safeguarding” the Constitutional and financial rights of Kerala, it said.

Uprooting drug networks

The policy speech promises a ‘zero-tolerance approach’ towards drug mafias and criminal networks. Modernisation of the Excise Department and the launch of ‘Operation Toofan’ are among measures proposed for uprooting the drug networks.

Climate resilience, waste management, water conservation, river protection and sustainable urban planning will be given priority in every budget and development programme, the policy speech said. A new Water Policy will be drafted to ensure sustainable water use, quality improvement and integrated water-resource management. A highlight of the realigned policy will be water credits for incentivising water management in basins.

On the industrial front, the policy speech outlined the UDF government’s plans for transforming Kerala into a globally competitive, innovation-driven and sustainable industrial economy.

Reviewing land laws

In the case of land, the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008 will be “comprehensively revised” to permanently resolve issues related to land conversion, according to the policy speech. The government also proposes to establish a Commission to review all land-related laws, it said.

Other thrust areas in the government policy include strengthening public health institutions and ramping up internal electricity generation by tapping renewables and deploying energy storage systems.

In the area of elderly care, the UDF government had announced a new department for the sector. The policy address announced plans to make all cities in Kerala elderly-friendly. ‘Care Cabins’ will serve as support centres at Collectorates, offering legal aid, healthcare and protection services to senior citizens.

In higher education, the government proposes to establish an Academic Syndicate as an apex body for handling administrative and governance-related matters. Other important focus areas in government policy cover popularisation of public transportation and initiatives for transforming Kerala into India’s first ‘orphan-free’ State and ‘most women-friendly State.’

The Kerala Cabinet on Wednesday (May 20, 2026) decided to scrap the K-Rail (SilverLine) semi-high-speed railway project from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod.

Addressing a press conference after the Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan said all the land acquired for the project would be de-notified and the yellow-hued concrete markers that demarcated the prospective line would be removed.

The Chief Minister, however, did not rule out the possibilities of the United Democratic Front (UDF) government coming up with its own semi high-speed rail project. He said that the government was “not against a rail project which will not affect the State environmentally or financially.”

Cases to be withdrawn

“We are not against high-speed rail projects. We opposed K-Rail because it was an environmental disaster and not economically viable. The K-Rail project did not have a proper Detailed Project Report (DPR). The LDF government had given up on the project and alternative projects were being discussed. Unfortunately, land acquired for the project was not de-notified, due to which people were suffering as they were unable to sell or pledge their own property. All the cases connected with the agitation will be withdrawn,” he said.

The Anti-K-Rail SilverLine People’s Struggle Committee had on Tuesday called on Mr. Satheesan to issue an order withdrawing the SilverLine project. Mr. Satheesan had said ahead of the Assembly elections that the UDF would de-notify the land acquired for SilverLine if voted to power.

The State had witnessed strong protests led by the UDF against the project since 2022. Revenue surveyors faced stiff opposition from Congress workers in many places. The party workers had used the uprooting of the yellow markers as a symbolic form of protest against the project. The land-use battle over the SilverLine alignment demarcation reflected resoundingly in the Assembly also with the UDF staging walkouts over the police action against long-time local residents, who, fearful of displacement, resisted the laying of markers for the semi-high-speed railway project.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also been against the project, with State leaders saying the project lacked Central approval and, hence, lacked credibility. The LDF government had made several unsuccessful attempts to get approval from the Union government.