Newly elected CPI(M) Kozhikode district secretary M. Mehboob has said that a development master plan will be devised for Kozhikode city in consultation with experts in various fields.
Addressing a ‘meet-the-press’ event organised by the Calicut Press Club here on Wednesday (February 12), he said that a development plan would be chalked out for all local body institutions. Discussions would be held within the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and among the people for the purpose, he added.
Mr. Mehboob said that the party would also launch a team of volunteers by training its red volunteers, who number around 25,000 in the district. They would take up campaigns against drugs and liquor in schools and colleges. The volunteers would also be trained in trauma care to address emergency situations and natural calamities. Help desks would be set up in party offices and the activities in the palliative care sector would be boosted. Projects would be launched for environment protection, waste management, cultivation of pesticide-free vegetables, and conservation of waterbodies.
‘No comments’
Mr. Mehboob, however, refused to elaborate on questions related to the recent public outbursts by a section of party sympathisers against the exclusion of P.K. Divakaran, a senior leader from Vadakara, from the district committee at the recently held district conference. He claimed that the district committee members were elected through a democratic process. It was the discretion of the delegates of the district conference to exclude or include members. “There is nothing serious in the public protests,” he claimed.
Asked about the month-long ongoing strike by distributors of drugs and surgical devices at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, seeking clearance of pending payments, Mr. Mehboob said that he had spoken to Health Minister Veena George about it. He mentioned that the department had submitted a proposal to the Finance department to grant around ₹572 crore as funds. “It is expected to be approved in the coming days. Thereafter, the dues of the distributors will be cleared,” Mr. Mehboob added.
