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Chandy moots scheme for cardamom procurement

By Our Staff Reporter

VAZHATHOPE (IDUKKID DISTRICT), NOV. 25. The Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy, today said that his Government would take necessary steps to impress upon the Union Government regarding the need to introduce a scheme for cardamom procurement.

Speaking at the inaugural function of his mass contact programme here, Mr. Chandy pointed out that cardamom growers were passing through an unprecedented crisis and a support mechanism for price stability was essential. The Central authorities have already got market intervention schemes for produces like coffee, pepper etc. There need not be any technical problem for extending the scheme to cardamom growers too. The matter would be taken up with the Union Commerce Ministry immediately, he said.

High range development

The Chief Minister also said that the much-awaited High Range Development Authority would be put in place soon, probably before December 17.

Package for Idukki

According to Mr. Chandy, his Government was keenly pursuing a package exclusively for Idukki district. The agriculture economy of the district was in a shambles and in that respect, the situation was comparable to that of Wayanad for which a special package is already in place.

The intensive district-level mass contact programme that he was pursuing would come to a close on November 30 with the programme scheduled at Kasaragod. The Sutharya Keralam Project would be put in place from January 1. The e-governance project, which would make use of teleconferencing facility and call centre facility at Thiruvananthapuram, would also bring in the respective Ministers along with the Chief Minister during the interactive sessions. Then onwards, mass contact programmes would be held at a half-yearly interval, he said.

The mass contact programme held at the Government Higher Secondary School at Vaazhathope was attended by thousands of people, mostly for title deeds related issues. Out of the 3,513 complaints received in advance, 2,437 were related to title deeds.

Kunhalikutty issue

The programme, which started nearly two hours late, was disrupted by women belonging to Left organisations who took out a march demanding resignation of the Industries Minister, P.K. Kunhalikutty, for his alleged involvement in the ice-cream parlour sex scandal.

The Adivassi Ekopana Samithy took out a march in protest against the Government's apathy for land redistribution. The Karshaka Samrakshana Munnani also staged a march to the venue. Earlier in the day, KSU activists submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister demanding removal of Mr. Kunhalikutty from the Cabinet.

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Chandy moots scheme for cardamom procurement

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