Thiruvananthapuram: Chief minister V D Satheesan on Wednesday indicated that his govt was considering implementing Centre’s labour codes in the state and said discussions would be held with all trade unions on it.Addressing a post-cabinet news conference, Satheesan said the labour codes had been implemented in all other states and Kerala was the only one yet to enforce it. “It is easy to say that the labour codes won’t be implemented. But if it is not, there will be no labour law in force in the state to protect workers,” he said.He said the labour codes were passed by Parliament and earlier labour laws were no longer in force across the country.Satheesan rejected allegations that his recent remarks on preserving traditional food practices were sexist. He said people who criticised his remarks hadn’t listened to his full speech while inaugurating Pampa Literary Festival at Chengannur. He accused critics of examining his remarks “through a microscopic lens” and selectively interpreting them to manufacture a controversy.Satheesan said he had referred to mothers who prepare special traditional dishes but fail to pass on the recipes and their significance to the next generation. He said he had urged them to share such knowledge with their children or, at least, with a person joining the family as their son’s wife so that the tradition would survive.He said the speech was about passing the knowledge to “children” and questioned how the term could be interpreted as referring only to daughters or sons. “What is anti-women about asking mothers to pass on traditional food practices to their children?” he asked.“I stand by what I said. There is nothing anti-women in those remarks. There are enough issues on which I can be criticised. If non-existent controversies are blown out of proportion, it will only affect the credibility of those doing so,” he said.Satheesan dismissed reports alleging that police assaulted an elderly woman who had come to meet him at the Secretariat. He said he met the woman downstairs, where elderly persons and those with disabilities are usually received, and her grievance was pending before a court. When she later created a disturbance, police only escorted her to an autorickshaw and arranged her train ticket, he said.Launching an attack on CPM, Satheesan said its own central committee report acknowledged that it had abandoned its secular position and several governance issues had generated public resentment against the previous govt. He said it vindicated UDF’s oft-repeated allegations while it was in the opposition.
