There is no restriction in creating government posts or making appointments, said Chief Minister Oommen Chandy here on Thursday.
Speaking after inaugurating the State’s second Regional Drug Testing Laboratory in Kakkanad, Mr. Chandy said that the government in the past two and a half years, had appointed 82,000 people through the Public Service Commission. The government had also created 47,000 new posts.
The government policy is not to keep even a single post vacant, said Mr. Chandy. He said that the Drug Control department has asked for 72 employees at the new laboratory that will be striving to ensure quality drugs in the market. In the first phase, 30 employees will be joining the laboratory. More staff will join after the work done by the laboratory is reviewed, he said. Most of the posts have been created in education, police and health departments, said Mr. Chandy.
As far as development of Kochi and the nearby areas is concerned, the government is giving top priority, especially to the Metro Rail project that is moving on the fast track. The second phase of development of Kochi Metro is also going on, he said.
Thrikkakara will be connected on the Metro route in the second phase.
Minister for Health, V. S. Sivakumar, who presided over the function, said that certain lobbies were working to keep drugs away from the drug control list. But the government has now brought 422 drugs under the list. It is to ensure the quality of drugs that the State had decided to open four regional drug testing laboratories. The State will be the first State in the country to have as many laboratories.
The next laboratory would be in Thrissur for which the government and the National Rural Health Mission would contribute Rs. 2.5 crore each. It will come up adjacent to the Thrissur Medical College. Kozhikode and Konni in Pathanamthitta are the other areas where a drug testing laboratory will be set up, he said.
