The Hindu : Kerala News : State to have authority for disaster management

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 28, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

State to have authority for disaster management

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN. 27. The State Government proposes to set up an authority for disaster management, give top priority to rebuilding villages destroyed by the tsunami, providing new houses and other basic amenities to people affected by the disaster, implementing special schemes for the uplift of the downtrodden and welfare of people in general.

These will be taken up under a one-year plan called `Kerala Fast Forward' being launched following the success of the 100-day programme carried out soon after the Oommen Chandy Government assumed office, the Governor, R.L. Bhatia, announced this in his address to the Assembly today.

Mr. Bhatia said the Government also proposed to carry forward the Chief Minister's mass-contact programme by launching a `Sutharya Keralam' programme to improve transparency in governance and promote probity in public life.

Mr. Bhatia touched almost all spheres of Government activity in his hour-long maiden address to the Assembly. The Opposition dismissed it as an annual report, which was disappointing and repetitious. It contained nothing for solving the burning problems of the State. The Opposition also lashed out at the Government for saying nothing about the adverse effect of the lottery ban on ticket sellers and claiming that the law-and-order situation was under firm control.

Steps for farmers

The Governor said the Government was committed to improving the economic conditions of farmers, and spelt out steps to be taken for the purpose. A marketing Bill to free farmers from the clutches of middlemen and traders was among the measures announced. Smart cards would be issued to fishermen for ensuring effective disbursement of their entitlements from the Government and for streamlining their social-security benefits. A Consumer Welfare Fund with a corpus of Rs. 30 lakhs would be set up to assist non-governmental organisations and other bodies to undertake consumer protection and welfare activities. The green cover of the State would increased by 5 per cent. A Habitat Forestry Project with 17 innovative schemes was being launched, he added.

The other major announcements made by the Governor included the extension of the service-delivery project under the Modernising Government Programme from 2,605 institutions to 30,000 front line institutions over four years with the help of a loan of Rs. 3,000 crores, a master plan for the development of Sabarimala for 50 years, construction of an exclusive village for parents of non-resident Keralites, power connection to all households by the end of the Tenth Plan and a State biodiversity board.

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