Thiruvananthapuram: Extreme poverty would be eradicated from Kerala in the next five years, said CM Pinarayi Vijayan. The decision was taken during the first cabinet meeting of the new Government in Kerala on Thursday.
On Thursday afternoon, the 21 member cabinet of the second consecutive term of the LDF government in Kerala assumed charge. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Chief Minister and all the 20 ministers.
In the Cabinet’s first meeting, it was decided to carry out an extensive survey with an aim to alleviate extreme poverty in the State. The secretaries with the Local Administration department have been directed to submit a recommendation on the factors contributing to the extreme poverty and suggestions for alleviation, said CM Pinarayi Vijayan, addressing the media after the first Cabinet meeting.
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The legislation would also be brought in by the Government to prevent the loss of a place to stay due to foreclosure proceedings. The Cabinet has directed a committee comprising of Finance Additional Chief Secretary, Planning Additional Chief Secretary, and an expert lawyer to study the issue and submit the report by July 15. Further actions would be initiated based on this report, Vijayan said.
This government has recognised shelter as a basic right for all. The government is committed to implementing varied projects to fulfil the broad aim of ensuring a house for all, the Chief Minister said.
In the agricultural sector, the motto would be complete modernisation, self-sufficiency, productivity, profit potential, and sustainability. Goals would be set to increase the productivity of each crop. In the dairy sector, milk production in the State would attain self-sufficiency by 2025. It will be like a mission to improve the productivity of meat and eggs in the next five years.
The focus would be on the value addition and marketing of farm produces. Programmes would be designed and implemented to carry out scientific farming methods. The industrial institutes would be prepared to process coconut and spices. A centre of excellence would be set up based at Polymer Science Technology for value addition in rubber. Local wetlands would be improved. Karappuzha, Banasura Sagar, Idamalayar projects would be completely operational by 2023-2024.
Krishi Bhavans would be ‘smart’. The department-level systems connected to the agriculture sector would be completely modernised. In inland fish farming, the Government would intervene in the production and area of farming with set goals. A time-bound project would be implemented to include the current updated information on all the land documents in the State.
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Special programme to reduce the burden of household chores in homemaker women
The State Government would reach out to the homemakers through a special programme to reduce their burden on household chores. The Chief Secretary, Local administration secretary, and the secretary for Women and Child Welfare department have been entrusted to design the programme to alleviate the household burden in homemakers and protect house helps and maids. Priority would be to raise the position of women in the State. Gender budgeting would be strengthened for the State Government and the Local self-governance institutions.
An interventional programme would be designed to check in the incidents of crimes against women and children in the State based on the crime mapping. An elaborate elderly survey would be conducted and actions would be taken to provide services at their doors. A special palliative care programme would also be implemented.
Government services at the door
Government services would reach the door through online mode through a massive project from the Pinarayi Government. The project would be commissioned on October 2, Gandhi Jayanthi. A committee comprising of IT secretary and IT experts would give a final design to the project.
The Chief Minister said the government is driven by the view that all government services are the people’s rights. Each decision is made for the people. There should not be any hurdle for the people to get these services. It has been decided to implement the e-office, e-file facilities in a more elaborate manner. The cabinet has decided on a committee to carry out this project.
Employment for 20 lakh educated
The second Pinarayi Government has come up with a guideline to employing 20 lakh educated people in the State. Kerala Development and Innovative Strategic Council (K Disc) has been directed to study and submit a report in this regard by July 15, the Chief Minister said.
It would be ensured that the vacancies in Government services would be reported completely and in a time-bound manner. Actions would be initiated to form a Public Sector Recruitment board. Actions would be strengthened to preserve our mother tongue, which serves as the sentinel of our secular culture. Besides utilising the international possibilities, the focus would be a productive intervention to provide job opportunities for the youth in our State. The efforts would be to make Kerala a centre of knowledge so that all sections of the society could acquire from it and thereby create a democratic society. The youth would be prepared to get more skilled jobs. The most modern skill development programmes would be made available to them.
Kerala has tremendous employment opportunities in IT-based services, transport, storage, information broadcasting, banking, insurance, construction, health, medical equipment, food processing, tourism and hospitality. Action would be initiated to utilise this potential.
Special consideration would be given to provide skill development for women, youth and scheduled caste and scheduled tribe communities in the sectors with fresh opportunities, the CM said. The access to employment-related training would be increased and women and men would be prepared to work in jobs under the official economy.
An efficient labour market information system and technical and vocational education and training facility would also be set up, the Chief Minister said, speaking after the cabinet meeting.
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