Kerala Cabinet on Wednesday decided to launch ‘Mangalya Lottery’ to finance assistance for marriage of poor girls under the Mangalya Nidhi Scheme.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told the media after the Cabinet meeting that an existing government weekly lottery would be renamed as Mangalya lottery for the purpose. Families living below the poverty line as well as families with income of less than Rs. 1 lakh a year would be eligible for the one time assistance of Rs. 30,000 from the Nidhi.
He said that the lottery scheme was proposed in the Budget as the amount collected from cess on rental of Kalyanamandapams was inadequate to finance the Nidhi. The Social Welfare Department would be the nodal agency for the Scheme. A committee chaired by district collectors would choose the beneficiaries. The complaint that even BPL families had to pay the cess would be looked into.
The authorised capital of Roads and Bridges Corporation would be increased from Rs. 50 crore to Rs. 140 crore. Olympian P.R. Sreejesh would be appointed as Assistant Sports Officer in the Education Department with the rank of Assistant Educational Officer. He had been selected as the best goal keeper at the Asia Cup Hockey held in Malaysia.
The Chief Minister said the pay scales of the staff and officers of Oil Palm India would be revised with effect from March 2009. The pay scales of the staff and officers of Plantation Corporation of Kerala would be revised with effect from April 2011.
He said that the widow of musician Saratchandra Maratta, who had migrated from Maharastra to Kerala, would be granted Rs. 2000 a month as assistance. As per High Court order, 112 fire station workers would be redeployed to district and divisional offices and headquarters of the fire force. Existing work arrangements would be discontinued and 17 posts would be upgraded.
It has also been decided that 10 per cent of the posts of lower division clerks and typists across various departments could be filled from among last grade employees based on qualifications and seniority. Now the percentage varied among departments.
The Perinthalmanna taluk headquarters hospital would be upgraded as district hospital.
