Thiruvananthapuram: In a surprising development, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan signed five bills that were under his consideration on Saturday. The bills signed are Land Assignment Amendment Bill, Kerala Co-operative Societies (Amendment), the Paddy Wetland Amendment Bill, the Dairy Cooperation Bill and the Abkari Law Amendment Bill. The Paddy Wetlands Act Amendment Bill, grants authority to Deputy Collectors to change land types, in addition to RDOs. With this, all the bills under the governor's consideration have now been approved.
The CPM had organised protests across the State against the Governor, highlighting the delay in considering the bills. Former Minister MM Mani had criticised the Governor in strong terms for not signing the Land Use Amendment Bill. The LDF also observed a hartal in Idukki during the Governor's visit there.
"We had received many complaints against the bills. So we had to take care of it before giving approval," the Governor said while responding to the media in Delhi.
Complaints against the land assignment amendment bill which were received by the Governor was forwarded to the State government four months ago. The Chief Secretary had sent a reply to the Raj Bhavan following this. According to the Chief Secretary's explanation, the bill is not aimed solely at Idukki district but addresses issues affecting Kerala as a whole.
The Governor had softened his stance, indicating that the bill would be approved if the government provided a satisfactory response to the complaints. Raj Bhavan reminded the government three times that the Governor had requested an explanation regarding the bill, but no response was received for months. However, the government was reluctant to provide an explanation, maintaining that there was no need for the Governor to question a bill passed by the assembly. Nevertheless, the government expressed readiness to provide an explanation should the governor soften his stance on the bill.