Karnataka - Malappuram   

Minister’s call to work for total development

MALAPPURAM: The people of Kerala should strive for the all-round development of the State, Union Minister of State for Planning and Parliamentary Affairs V. Narayansamy has said.

Depending solely on agriculture is not advisable as climate change can wreak havoc, he said after inaugurating a function got up to give away the keys of 40 houses constructed as part of the Housing and Rehabilitation Project under tsunami rehabilitation at Veliyamkode, near Ponnani on Monday.

Mr. Narayanasamy called upon non-resident Keralites (NoRKs) to come forward to invest in the State, particularly in the information technology sector. “The possibility of IT in the State is tremendous,” he said. The State government should create a favourable atmosphere for investors, he said. “Funds are not a constraint. The Centre is liberal in granting funds,” he said.

Although the Centre had allotted Rs.1,441 crore for tsunami rehabilitation, the State could complete only 70 per cent of the work by spending Rs.824 crore, he said. Mr. Narayanasamy offered to release more funds if the State could complete the rehabilitation work in the current fiscal.

He told The Hindu that the State had wanted an additional aid of Rs.315 crore. “I have asked Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran to submit a project report, based on which more funds asked by the State will be released,” he said.

Mr. Rajendran, who presided over the function, said that the State would do its best to complete the tsunami rehabilitation project before March. He said the houses constructed as part of the project met all safety norms. More than a lakh fisherwomen had been given jobs as part of an employment project. As many as 100 of them will be selected for a four-day training to be held in New Delhi from February 14, Mr. Rajendran said. Minister for Local Self-government Paloli Mohammed Kutty, Minister for Forest Benoy Viswom, E.T. Mohammed Basheer, MP, district panchayat president Arimbra Mohammed, Housing Commissioner Noel Thomas, and Ponnani municipal chairman M.M. Narayanan addressed the gathering. Housing Board Chairman M. Rahmatulla welcomed the gathering. The District Collector presented a report.

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Minister’s call to work for total development

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