Onam is festival of hope, should be celebrated following COVID-19 protocols, says Kerala CM

Onam is a festival of hope and will be celebrated in Kerala following all COVID-19 protocols, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday.

Addressing the media, the Chief Minister said, "Onam festival is taking place this time when the state is witnessing a spike in COVID-19 cases. Onam is a festival that gives hope for the future. We should all celebrate Onam following all COVID-19 protocols. All public gatherings and public celebrations should be avoided."

He added that considering the rush in shops in connection with the Onam festival, all shops have been asked to start 'Break-the-Chain' counters where hand stizer should be provided. Police have been directed to strictly enforce crowd control measures.

Vijayan also updated the media about the status of COVID-19 situation in the state and said 2,397 new COVID-19 cases and 6 deaths reported in Kerala on Saturday.

According to him, there are 23,277 active cases in the state currently.

Addressing the ongoing controversy around two options given by Centre for GST compensation to the state, Vijayan said Kerala stands firm that GST compensation should be given to all states.

"It is the constitutional right of States," he added.

The Centre on August 27 gave two options for compensating states on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to bridge revenue shortfall as the economy faces a prospect of contraction in the current fiscal year due to the COVID-19 crisis.

The first option provides a special window to states in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to provide Rs 97,000 crore at a reasonable rate of interest. This money can then be repaid after five years from the collection of cess.

The second option is that the entire GST compensation gap of Rs 2.35 lakh crore of this year can be met by states in consultation with the RBI.

( With inputs from ANI )