Kerala to have law on citizens’ rights, transparency

The Governor was delivering the customary policy address on the opening day of the Budget session in the Kerala Assembly.

February 23, 2017 09:43 am | Updated 10:28 am IST - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:

Governor P. Sathasivam

Governor P. Sathasivam

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) would soon come out with a comprehensive law in citizen's rights, transparency and accountability.

Announcing this while delivering the customary policy address on the opening day of the Budget session in the Kerala Assembly on Thursday, Mr. Sathasivam said the initiative if the government had already begun to show 'significant progress'.

The Governor was greeted by Opposition with slogan shouting and raising banners against the State government.

For the first time in the country, Kerala would come out with an export policy to boost it's export potential.  The Governor said the government would initiate steps to promote a 'Made in Kerala' on the 'Japanese model'. Indigenous rice varieties such as 'Jeerakasala', 'Gandhakasala, and 'Mascara' would be promoted with focused programmes and a new tea brand would be developed.

Earlier, the Governor came down heavily on the demonetisation of high value currency notes and said it had heaped misery on the commoners. 'Heart-rending stories' have come from different parts of the State and the country, indicating the magnitude of the impact that demonetisation has had on the lives of ordinary people, he said.

Massive reforms would be initiated to put the State at the top in the matter of 'ease of doing business'. Kerala would stick to the Five Year Plan mode with SCP and TCP components. The State has already begun steps to free major infrastructure projects from red-tapism and corruption by putting in place the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).

On women's protection, the Governor said the State government would set up Comprehensive Victim Relief Fund and,for the first time in the country, a Sex Offenders Register.

Highlights of  Governor's address

* Kerala Financial Corporation (KFC) to set up Innovation Centres in major colleges

* More government services will be put online

* One lakh IT jobs will be created in Phase Three of Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram

* Master plan for new campus of Indian Institute of Information Technology at Techno city,Thiruvananthapuram approved

* Three mobile phone manufacturing units planned Advanced Technology Park planned in Kozhikode.

*Parks to promote pharmacy and plastic industries also planned.

* Artisan villages to be set up; crafts industry will be linked with tourism sector.

* Fisher families living with 15 metres of the coast will be rehabilitated over five years

* Expects to set up Kerala Cooperative Bank with core banking facility next fiscal.

* The committee constituted to submit report on the proposal is expected to submit it's report soon

* Child health programmes will be are mandatory for all children

* A comprehensive emergency management system with fully equipped ambulances will be put in place.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.