The Nair Service Society (NSS) has urged the State government to ensure caution and foresightedness while conceptualising projects at the ongoing Emerging Kerala meet.
In a statement at Perunna on Wednesday, NSS general secretary G. Sukumaran Nair pointed out that the government should adopt a disciplined stance towards developmental issues in the State. It was wrong to assume that the sale of public land, creation of land mafias, and facilitating new landlordism meant development. Moreover, policies pertaining to globalisation and liberalisation should not be used as licences to implement anti-people policies.
Mr. Nair was of the opinion that there was nothing surprising to the fact that the investors’ meet had been a subject of many recent controversies. This was mainly because the basic requirements of the State, which included public healthcare, public distribution system, clean water distribution, environmental conservation, waste management, public education, and basic amenities, was overlooked by the initiative.
It should be examined whether the efforts made by the government in attracting investors would be of assistance to the financially-disadvantaged as well as the common populace, he said.
According to him, the controversies that had erupted regarding the investors’ meet necessitated attention. The government should restrain from leasing out public land to foreign corporate giants for implementing projects without sufficient consideration, owing to the fact that the State possesses very limited resources. Moreover, land should be leased out for a minimum possible duration for those projects that were identified as useful for the progress of the State. At the same time, the necessary guidelines that prevented threat for the ecology should also be incorporated while conceptualising projects. In addition, the State would not require entertainment tourism projects that could destroy the culture of the land, he said.
Mr. Nair said although none of the proposals that were announced at the Global Investors’ Meet some eight years ago were realised, the progressive message conveyed through the programme had led to certain positive factors in the developmental policies of the State.
