Minister Bindu Krishna has taken charge of an incredibly diverse and challenging set of portfolios in the State Cabinet, overseeing Women and Child Development, Labour, Animal Husbandry, and Dairy Development. The Kollam MLA says she is under no illusions about the scale of the task ahead, and these departments must be aggressively restructured and rejuvenated from the ground up to ensure optimum efficiency.
As she is stepping into office at a time when the labour landscape is undergoing a massive shift, the Minister is prioritising a deep and empirical study into how these changes will impact existing working environments. “With the introduction of the Labour Codes, we are facing a lot of structural difficulties on the ground. We are currently in the process of formulating our State-specific rules. There is a serious, tangible impact on our existing working environments that we need to address. It is a highly sensitive matter, and I intend to deeply study this impact so we can devise effective strategies to protect our workforce,” she says.
Workers’ welfare
A similar urgency marks her approach to the welfare of guest workers as the Minister candidly points out that residential quarters of inter-State labourers in most places remain in truly deplorable, pathetic conditions. “As Keralites, we are highly conscious of personal cleanliness, hygiene, and our overall quality of life. But their living conditions are simply not good enough. To address this stark disparity, we are actively considering dedicated housing schemes and welfare measures specifically for them. The focus will be comprehensive and we will take measures to safeguard the dignity and well-being of all labour sectors,” she says.
Her commitment to ensure the welfare of workforce takes on a deeply emotional and personal resonance when it comes to the traditional cashew sector. For Ms. Krishna this is not merely a policy matter as her own mother was a cashew worker. The Minister says she is determined to brainstorm with experts and officials to explore every viable avenue for its sustainable revival, and promises targeted government interventions across all traditional sectors currently facing financial strain.
She adds that lack of funds is a major issue across all departments, especially Animal Husbandry. “I am being told that even faculty and staff at the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University are not receiving their salaries on time. Department officials claim it is due to an acute shortage of funds. For a State to have only one dedicated veterinary university, and to see that institution crippled by such basic operational struggles, is unacceptable,” she says.
Yet, even as she drives these Statewide reforms, developing her home constituency of Kollam remains an uncompromised priority. “I have already scheduled a meeting with the Health Minister to address severe infrastructure gaps at the district hospital, where a malfunctioning cath lab and a problematic culture of automatically referring patients to the medical college have long frustrated patients. Fast-tracking pending bridge constructions and reconstructing broken roads to bring visible transformation to the city will be another area of focus,” she says.