Thiruvananthapuram: No government sponsored Onam festivities

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The cabinet has decided to cancel all the Onam festivities as planned by the state government and by all the government departments in the wake of the disaster the state has been witnessing.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayanhas asked all the government departments to transfer the funds meant for organising the Onam celebrations to the chief minister’s relief fund.The government will also utilise the fund kept for the state wide festivities for the disaster relief.
"It will not be proper for the government to celebrate Onam when on the other hand the government is involved in fund collection for the disaster relief,’’ said the chief minister after the cabinet meeting.
He urged all the public sector undertakings and all other corporations and companies to donate the funds meant for Onam festivities to the disaster relief fund. He also urged all the people of the state to generously contribute to the relief fund for helping the people who are struggling for survival.
The state cabinet also urged all the government employees to contribute their two day’s of salary to the chief minister’s relief fund. He said the government would be holding talks with all the service organisations in the government sector to collect their feedback on this.