Kerala Governor, Speaker, ministers remove beacons

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Governor, Speaker of the Assembly and many ministers on Thursday removed the red beacons atop their vehicles, a day after the Union government's announcement to the effect.

Kerala Governor P. Sathasivam, Kerala Assembly Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan and Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala informed the media that they had removed the red beacons from their vehicles.

Finance Minister Thomas Issac, Water Resources Minister Mathew T. Thomas, Culture Minister A.K. Balan and Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekheran were the first ones to remove the beacons.

The Chief Minister and all other ministers would also remove the beacons at the earliest, sources said.

The central government on Wednesday announced that VIPs will not be allowed to flaunt red beacons atop their vehicles from May 1. The decision was taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.