Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating that the decision of the Centre to deny political clearance to the state Health Minister Veena George to visit victims of the fire accident in Kuwait, was against cooperative federalism.

In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan described the situation as unfortunate and emphasised that raising the issue was necessary despite their reluctance to create controversy during such distressing times.

“The state government shall be failing in its duty, if the non-response to the request for the political clearance is not brought before the attention of the Prime Minister. The collective decision of the state cabinet has been disregarded. Political clearance was requested as per the Office Memorandum of the Cabinet Secretariat dated February 28, 2023,” CM Vijayan said in his letter.

He said that health minister Veena George could not visit Kuwait as the External Affairs Ministry did not respond to the state government’s request for political clearance.The chief minister also requested the Prime Minister to advise the Ministry for External Affairs to be responsive to such requests in the future.

In his letter, Pinarayi Vijayan further said that around half the number of people who lost their lives in the fire accident hailed from Kerala. “Her presence in Kuwait would have helped substantially in liaisoning with the Union Minister of State for External Affairs, the team of officials and the Embassy. This could have provided mental relief and confidence to the families of those who were affected by the unforeseen tragedy,” he said.

The tragic fire in Kuwait claimed 49 lives, including 24 from Kerala. Following this, the Kerala cabinet on June 13, decided to send the minister to Kuwait to coordinate relief efforts, which included arranging treatment for the injured and managing the repatriation of the deceased. However, the trip was cancelled and the minister said her departure was blocked by the Union government.

Earlier on Friday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed deep resentment at the Centre’s decision in denying clearance to state health minister Veena George’s visit to Kuwait to coordinate efforts for Keralites affected by the fire tragedy.

Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D Satheesan said it was unfortunate that the state health minister was not allowed to travel to Kuwait.

“A representative of the state government would have helped to better coordinate the relief efforts. The state’s representative would also have been able to help the Union government to carry out the relief efforts,” Satheesan said.

George also came forward criticizing the central government’s act of denying her permission at the last minute. This should not have been done to Kerala.

However, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan came out in support of the Centre’s action. Governor Khan said that when the bodies of the deceased were being brought on Friday, what would Veena George have achieved by going there on Thursday.

“What is the use in sending the minister for a day. There is no point in the minister going to Kuwait to spend a few hours. The Union Minister has gone to Kuwait and made all the arrangements. The central government had intervened to bring all the dead bodies to the country,” the Governor said.

Former minister of state for external affairs V Muralidharan has also come out to justify the Centre’s action.He said there is no established system of sending state ministers to a foreign country to coordinate relief efforts related to a tragedy.

The state unit of the BJP also came in support of the Central government’s decision .BJP state president K Surendran said sending a state minister to Kuwait was not necessary,as all procedures related to the repatriation of the bodies were completed under the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday itself .” Then, why should the central government unnecessarily send a state minister to coordinate the procedure?” Surendran asked.