The district has received deserving mention in the Budget for the year 2015-16, according to Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, local MLA and Minister for Transport, Sports and Cinema.
One of the major recommendations that would benefit the Kottayam Assembly segment was the proposed modernisation of the Nehru Stadium. Allocation has also been made for the development of infrastructure facilities at Kottayam Government Polytechnic, Government Dental College, Government Ayurveda Hospital and Government College.
According to sources in the rubber sector, the recommendations for the sector will have a comforting effect, if implemented effectively. The last few weeks saw the natural rubber market plunging into one of the worst crises in recent times with the consuming industry keeping away from lifting the product and the dealers shutting down their shops in protest. The sluggishness in the rubber sector had impacted the general economy of the district. The Budget has proposed an increase in the benchmark price of natural rubber to Rs.150 and to earmark Rs.300 crore for lifting 20,000 tonnes of rubber.
Another beneficiary of the State Budget is the proposed Science City project which received Rs.16 crore for its second phase. The Institute of Child Health has received Rs. 2 crore.
Other institutions proposed for the district include a Kerala literature and cultural centre-cum-heritage museum at Changanassery; an employment guidance and advanced training centre for nurses at Laalam; a woman ITI at Karukachal, and agriculture polytechnics at Kaduthuruthy and Melukavu.
