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Rs.521-crore scheme for Wayanad submitted to Centre

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Government has submitted a Rs.521-crore scheme to the Union Government for assistance to revive the crisis-ridden farm sector of Wayanad district.

This was stated by Agriculture Minister Mullakara Ratnakaran in the Assembly on Wednesday. He added that the scheme was a multi-pronged one meant to address the social and economic fallout of the farm crisis in the district. The Government had incorporated in the scheme the suggestions put forward by the expert team from the Planning Commission that visited the State recently to study the problems of the farmers in the State.

His statement came in reply to a calling attention motion moved by M.V. Shreyams Kumar, Janata Dal(S) MLA. Mr. Ratnakaran said the State Government was optimistic about Central clearance for the scheme.

He said 321 farmers had committed suicide in Wayanad district during the past five years, burdened by debt. Inquiries were on to decide whether 58 other suicides reported from the district during this period were related to the crisis in the farm sector, he added.

Responding to another submission, Labour Minister P.K. Gurudasan said the Government would act strongly to prevent exploitation of migrant labour in the State. He said large construction companies such as Punj Lloyd were employing thousands of labourers from the other States in Kerala to execute construction projects.

"It has come to the Government's notice that these workers were being forced to work 14 to 16 hours a day on low wages. The condition of the labour camps for the migrant workers was abominable. Last year, we had two deaths in the labour camps and many workers fell ill and had to be hospitalised.

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