Maldivians in Thiruvananthapuram under scanner

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Government is treading cautiously with regard to the presence of Maldivian nationals in the State capital. Now, the spotlight is being turned on the purchase of land by Maldivians in the district. Reacting to the issue in the State Assembly on Tuesday, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that the Union Home and Defence Ministries have warned Kerala about Maldivian nationals engaged in the purchase of land in the State.The Chief Minister was replying to questions by M Hamza, R Selvaraj, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and A Pradeep Kumar.To another question, he said that a subsidiary of Villa Foundation, a charitable society based in Male, was operating out of Hotel BG Continent near the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital.Maldivian nationals have a strong presence in the State capital with many of them depending on hospitals here for medical treatment.  On account of this dependence, Maldives also has a Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram. They also are a part of the local economy, especially near the Medical College, as many of the local people rent out houses to them.High Court BenchThe Chief Minister told the Assembly that the UDF Government will take the initiative for establishing a Bench of the Kerala High Court in the State capital. He was responding to questions by MLAs Thomas Unniyadan, P C George, N Jayaraj and Roshy Augustine.Chandy said the State Government had completed all procedures on its part for getting the Bench established here. "Now the ball is in the courts of the Kerala High Court and the Centre,’’ he said. Under existing rules, it is the High Court that has a final say in the matter. The Centre has taken this stand, the Chief Minister informed the House. It is understood that the Centre has not received a recommendation in this regard, he added.Exhibition CentreThe State Government has declared the Aruvikkara dam site, where the annual farm exhibition is organised during the ‘Karkkidaka Vavu’, as a Permanent Exhibition Centre. This enables government departments, public sector and quasi-governmental agencies to participate in the exhibition without special orders.The order in the regard was issued on Tuesday considering a request by the Aruvikkara grama panchayat and Speaker G Karthikeyan, who represents the constituency in the House.  The State Government had also announced a comprehensive development package for Aruvikkara in the recently-presented Budget.