The Hindu : Front Page : Kerala to seek `Vidharbha-like package'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 07, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Kerala to seek `Vidharbha-like package'

Special Correspondent

Achuthanandan leaves for New Delhi with memorandum listing State's travails

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan will urge Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to announce a `Vidharbha-like package' for Kerala, in view of the unprecedented crisis plaguing the State's farm sector.

Mr. Achuthanandan left for New Delhi on Thursday with a 60-page memorandum listing Kerala's travails and seeking the Centre's help to solve them. High on the list is farm crisis that had forced many farmers in the State to commit suicide.

He will meet the Prime Minister, the President, the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, the Minister for Environment and Forests and the Minister for Commerce on Friday and Saturday.

He will also address a meeting of Kerala cadre Civil Services officials on deputation to Central Government departments in New Delhi on Friday to seek their help in pushing the State's projects awaiting Central nod.

At a press conference prior to his departure from here, Mr. Achuthanandan said Dr. Manmohan Singh, having visited Vidharbha recently, was already aware of the gravity of the crisis gripping the farm sector in the country. The `Vidharbha package' he had announced on his visit reflected his concern. "The crisis in Kerala is as grave as that in Vidharbha. Over 1,500 farmers had committed suicide here, according to unofficial data. At least four districts in the State — Wayanad, Palakkad, Idukki and Kasaragod — are in deep trouble. Kerala too deserves such a package," he said.

He said another serious issue related to the borrowing ceiling the Centre had imposed on the State for the year. The State needed to borrow Rs.7,246 crores to finance the Planning Commission-approved annual Plan of Rs.6,210 crores. The Ministry of Finance, however, had fixed the borrowing ceiling for the State this year at Rs.4,672 crores vide a letter in February. He said he would press the Centre to have the ceiling raised.

Speedy environmental clearance for the Vallarpadam Container Transhipment Terminal, political clearance for the Vizhinjam Port Project , clearances for the proposed Kannur Airport Project and Air Kerala Project and several items relating to railway development are among the demands in the memorandum.

In the morning, the Chief Minister convened a meeting of the MPs from the State to present to them a comprehensive picture of the issues he would take up with the Centre.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page