Kerala: Minister Aryadan ‘powerless’ to appear in public

The recent power tariff hike has turned out to be a major headache to none other than the Power Minister himself. Fearing security issues following the tariff hike, Power Minister Aryadan Mohammed has cancelled almost all his programmes which were scheduled across the state for one week.

When contacted, the office of the Power Minister confirmed that the Minister has cancelled his programmes for one week after the increase in the electricity charges.

“The whole schedule of the Minister has been changed. He was scheduled to attend a couple of programmes here in the weekend and was expected to release the logo of the Kochi Metro Rail project on Tuesday. The programmes have been cancelled. His press conference in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday is the only confirmed programme,” the Minister’s office said. As many as 14 programmes scheduled to be attended by the Minister have been cancelled during this period.

However, the Minister said that he was busy in sorting out solutions to tackle the current electricity crisis and tariff hike. “It is right that I have cancelled the programmes after the hike was announced. Surely, there would be law and order problems if I make a public appearance this week. The law and order situation has to be taken into account. Primarily, I cancelled the programmes to study the crisis and find a solution. I have spoken to some of the experts in the electricity sector and we have come across certain good ideas. I will conduct a press meet on Friday,” Aryadan Mohammed said.