: Emphasis on waste disposal at source and households and renovation and cleaning of water sources are the highlights of the Haritha Keralam project to be executed in mission mode by the government. Besides, cleanliness and development of the agriculture sector and organic farming will also get focus.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told a press conference that the Cabinet on Tuesday had given the nod for setting up a three-tier committee at the State, district and panchayat level for the execution of the project. In big cities of Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode, a centralised waste disposal system will be set up. Facilities for taking care of plastic waste, e-waste and hospital waste will be set up. Through segregation of waste at households, the aim is to create a conducive atmosphere for organic farming to be taken up in a big way. The Chief Minister said youth organisations, voluntary organisations, NGOs and students will be roped in for the task.
Existing ponds and wells will be cleaned and revitalised. In Phase II, cleaning of rivers, lakes and other waterbodies will be taken up. The Chief Minister will head the State level mission and the Additional Chief Secretary, Planning, will be the mission secretary.
Under the Comprehensive Education Renewal Project, 1,000 schools will be raised to international standards, classrooms from class IX to XII will be made hi-tech, syllabus revised and more facilities created for disabled students. A special package will be rolled out for schools that are 50 and 100 years old. English will be encouraged along with Malayalam.
The Chief Minister will head the State level Mission. The Secretary, General Education, will be the Mission Secretary and Head of the Task Force.An Empowered Committee headed by the Chief Secretary had been set up to coordiante the six missions and Six Task Forces.
