Thiruvananthapuram:
Claiming that his mass contact programme had been able to take the government to the public, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy today took a dig at the CPI(M)-led LDF opposition for boycotting the campaign.
In a write-up for media, Mr Chandy said it could be due to political reasons that the LDF turned its back to the outreach programme, but the opposition, in doing so, lost "a massive opportunity" to directly witness a wide range of problems of faced by the masses.
"People place faith in a government only when it seeks to bridge the gap between the people and governance. The (Congress-led UDF) Government has been able to take the government to the midst of the people," Mr Chandy said.
"The LDF should have participated in the programme. By their boycott, its leaders and elected representatives lost an excellent opportunity to have hands-on experience of the live issues of the people," he added.
Recalling his experiences during the programme in various districts where petitioners, mostly less privileged, thronged seeking solutions to their grievances, Mr Chandy said he had learnt a lot during his close interaction with people.
The experiences gathered from the programme would be factored in the process of governance and some initiative in that direction had already been done, he said.
The second phase of the programme began in the state capital in October and wound up in Kottayam on December 17 covering all the 14 districts, where the Chief Minister, district and local officials spent upto 16 hours looking into the grievances of the people.
Referring to the UN award for public service received by the first edition of the programme last year, Mr Chandy said he valued the "affectionate response" he received from the people during the campaign as a greater reward.