Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Chandy to seek nod for tribunal Bill

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said that he would write to Home Minister P. Chidambaram seeking Presidential nod for the Plachimada tribunal bill.

Briefing reporters after a conference of Members of Parliament (MPs) here on Saturday, Mr. Chandy said the matter was raised by MPs at the conference.

The meeting, he said, had also resolved to constitute a special mechanism to monitor sanctioning of funds under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS).

The mechanism was felt necessary on account of perceived shortcomings in the utilisation of MPLADS funds totalling Rs.150 crore, he said.

Mr. Chandy said the meeting also resolved to initiate steps to secure higher amounts under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).

The main bottleneck in releasing higher amounts under the scheme was identified as the refusal of the Centre to provide more than the tender estimate amount for taking up specific works under it.

When the matter figured in the MPs' meeting, the State government promised to meet the excess amount, subject to a ceiling. He would personally write to the Union Minister for Rural Development on the subject, the Chief Minister said.

The meeting also discussed the need to ensure that banks in the State complied with the student-friendly provisions of the Central student education loan scheme.

He had raised the matter at the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) meeting. Although the bank authorities had then assured him that they were complying with the Central norms, experience had proved to be otherwise. Mr. Chandy said the meeting had also resolved to implement development schemes at Pampa with greater speed.

Even as the meeting was in progress, the State government had received information that, thanks to intervention by Defence Minister A. K. Antony, the Military Engineering Service (MES) would provide assistance for constructing the proposed 140-metre-long exit bridge at Sabarimala, which would facilitate easier homeward movement of pilgrims.

Engineers from the MES would reach Sabarimala on Sunday for the purpose.

He hoped that the Centre would grant clearance for the Kochi Metro project and the proposed coach factory at Palakkad. The MPs complained about the absence of sufficient lodging facilities for people reaching Delhi from Kerala. The meeting found that the scheme proposed to address the issue was inadequate and the State would be able to provide proper lodging facilities in the national capital only if it could secure an additional 5 acres of land.

The State would write to the Delhi administration and the Centre on the subject. A three-member search committee comprising M..I.. Shanawas, K.N. Balagopal and Kodikkunnil Suresh would work to identify an appropriate piece of land, he added.

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