He was in charge of the Finance Portfolio and resigned from the cabinet on 22 June 1994 as a protest against Karunakaran's denial of a Rajya Sabha ticket to a factional leader.
[18] Oommen Chandy was a minister in the following ministries: The results of the parliamentary elections in May 2004 saw the Indian National Congress not winning a single seat in Kerala.
[21] The Congress-led alliance was defeated but managed to retain 42 out of 140 seats in the assembly and boost its vote-share by nearly 10% after the general election rout.
Under his leadership, UDF marked victories in Lok Sabha Election 2009, gaining 16 out of 20 parliament constituencies in Kerala.
The award was presented on 27 June 2013, in Manama, Bahrain, by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Wu Hongbo.
[26] Oommen Chandy first took charge as chief minister on 31 August 2004 and adopted the motto Athivegam Bahudooram (Fast and far).
[29] The Karunya benevolent scheme was implemented in 2011–2012, allowing free treatment of patients with cancer, haemophilia, and kidney and heart diseases.
[32] Oommen also received the United Nation's Public Service Award for his Mass Contact Programme (Jana Samparkka Paripadi), for hearing and solving the complaints of citizens.
[33] In 2005, Information Technology was made a compulsory subject for the school-level students, making Kerala the first Indian state to do so.
[34] Victers TV, which is India's first public edutainment channel broadband network on EDUSAT for schools, was inaugurated by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam on 28 July 2005 at Thiruvananthapuram.
[3] Oommen Chandy's regime was instrumental in beginning the construction of several massive infrastructure projects as well as some human-welfare schemes in Kerala which included the Kannur International Airport in Kannur,[37][38] the Kochi Metro at Kochi,[37][39][38] the Vizhinjam International Seaport at Thiruvananthapuram,[37][38] and the Smart City project.
[57] The National University of Advanced Legal Studies at Kochi was founded in 2005 and the Indian Institute of Technology at Palakkad was established in 2015.
[62][63] The airport won the Champion of the Earth award in 2018, the highest environmental honour instituted by the United Nations.
[68] Other social welfare measures included free rations for those who lost their employment, and 4,14,552 houses for those who hadn't homes before.
[77] A number of projects were conceptualized and developed in the tate following the summit, the most prominent of which included the Kochi-Mangalore GAIL Pipeline, Vizhinjam International Seaport, Kochi Metro, Thiruvananthapuram Light Metro and Kozhikode Light Metro, Petroleum Chemicals & Petrochemical Investment Region, Kochi-Palakkad National Investment and Manufacturing Zone,[78] Indian Institute of Information Technology, Kottayam, Thiruvananthapuram–Kasargode Semi High Speed Rail Corridor, Kerala Seaplane, Electronic hub at Kochi, Titanium Sponge Plant Project at Kollam, Oceanarium project at Kochi,[79] Bio 360 Life Sciences Park at Thiruvananthapuram, a gas-based powerplant at Cheemeni, Kasaragod,[80] and Kochi LNG Terminal.
[83] According to the report, no evidence could be collected against Oommen Chandy and the Crime Branch failed to confirm that the incident mentioned in the complaint actually happened.
[83] The case was handed over to the central agency after several teams of the Kerala Police repeatedly failed to prove the allegations against Oommen.
[82] The opposition led by CPI(M) had accused corruption in the Vizhinjam International Seaport project ahead of the 2016 Kerala Legislative Assembly election.
The CAG report contended that by granting a ten-year concession period beyond the standard thirty-year term for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects, the state government's agreement with the Adani Group for the Vizhinjam seaport project could potentially result in an additional revenue of Rs 29,217 crore for the concessionaire.
[86] Based on this CAG report,the first Vijayan ministry appointed a three-member judicial commission under Justice C. N. Ramachandran to investigate in May 2017.
[91] The report filed by VACB said that Oommen Chandy was not aware of the details of the decision to import palmolein through a Singapore-based firm.
[93] Additionally, he underwent laser biopsy in Germany, a procedure that reduces tumor size but does not eliminate cancer.
Despite these treatments, Chandy succumbed to the disease and died on 18 July 2023 at the age of 79 due to complications from throat cancer.
[97][98] A solemn funeral procession began on 19 July 2023, traversing the 150 km distance from the state capital to Chandy's hometown, Puthuppally in Kottayam district.
[99][100] The final rites were conducted at St. George Orthodox Church, Puthuppally, on 20 July 2023, presided over by Mar Baselios Marthoma Mathews III.
[101] In honor of his dedicated public service, Oommen Chandy was laid to rest in a specially constructed tomb within the exclusive burial ground reserved for the Orthodox Church's clergy.
[102] Respecting his wishes, the family declined state honors, with his son expressing his father's desire for a simple funeral.