The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : ‘Industrial growth is prime concern’

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Thursday, Feb 07, 2008
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

‘Industrial growth is prime concern’

Special Correspondent

Government not for land deals: Karim

‘Changes in IPRs detrimental to Third World countries’
Says traditional industry workers will be protected

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government is interested only in giving opportunities to investors and entrepreneurs for the State’s industrial development and not in real estate deals, Industries Minister Elamaram Karim has said.

Inaugurating a workshop on utilisation of the Geographical Indication Act, organised by the Central Textile Committee, here on Wednesday, Mr. Karim pointed out that land taken over by the government for industrial development was mostly lying unutilised for want of infrastructural facilities. Not even half-a-per cent of the land available in the State had been utilised for industrialisation and land belonging to closed public sector units was lying entangled in court cases. The Government policy is that land in its possession should be utilised for industrial development. It was not proper to adopt a negative attitude towards steps being taken by the government with good intentions, the Minister said.

Turning to the central theme of the workshop, which was organised against the backdrop of the discussion on protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in the country, Mr. Karim said the changes brought about in the IPRs regime consequent upon GATT were detrimental to the interests of Third World countries like India. The changes were not beneficial to either the regional producers or the larger interests of the country. Multinationals were turning knowledge into a tradable commodity. The State government is actively considering a proposal to brand and market products manufacturing using skills of artisans at the local level, he added.

The Industries Minister said most of the spinning mills in the State were in a crisis. The government, he said, was engaged in a serious endeavour to bail them out. It also had the responsibility to protect around 40 lakh workers in the traditional sector. The attempt was to enhance productivity and go in for diversification.

The efforts made by the State government for popularisation of handloom clothes had met with some success. Beginning next academic year, the government would offer rebate for handloom uniform clothes, Mr. Karim said.

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