Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Centre yet to approve Kuttanad package

ALAPPUZHA: Giving a new twist to the debates and statements over implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s Kuttanad Package, Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran has the Union Cabinet is yet to approve in principle the Rs.1839.75-crore package.

Speaking after releasing an agriculture calendar prepared by the Save Kuttanad Forum near Edathua here on Saturday, Mr. Ratnakaran said the approval that was being ‘celebrated’ now was that of the Union Agriculture Ministry. The Ministry would now have to forward files of the Swaminathan Commission’s report to the Union Cabinet, which was not done yet. Even if the file reached the Cabinet, the possibilities of such a massive package being approved for inclusion in the Union Budget were minimal, he said.

The only way out was for the Cabinet to approve the package as a special allotment with permission for funds from agencies like the NABARD or others, Mr. Ratnakaran said, adding that the chances of the package being included in the budget were less since that would pave the way for other districts too to come up with similar demands. “Already, Wayanad has demanded an ‘Alappuzha-mode’ package,” he said.

The State government on its part was putting pressure on all possible quarters in New Delhi to move the file to the Union Cabinet. “We are discussing the issue with Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. We have also taken up the matter with Union Ministers A.K. Antony and Vayalar Ravi to help the package get approval as a special project from the Union Cabinet. All the MPs from Kerala too are doing whatever is necessary for this,” he said. The Minister also dismissed talks that Rs.50 crore out of the package had already been given to the State government. “Nothing of that sort has happened. In any case, any allotment from the Centre to the State will be utilised sincerely without fail,” he said.

Earlier, Mr. Ratnakaran said the global situation was such that prices of food items were on the rise perpetually.

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