The government will introduce a budget monitoring system next year for online collection of non-Plan estimates and speedy finalisation of budget estimates, Governor P. Sathasivam has said. Delivering the policy address in the Assembly on Friday, Mr. Sathasivam said the web-based application would lend more accuracy and promptness in data collection and enhance the efficiency of budgeting.
The ongoing Treasury Modernisation Project would be completed by December. Next year, the Department of Treasuries would implement an integrated financial management system for integrating the department with the Finance Department, Accountant-General’s office, and the Reserve Bank of India under the national e-governance project. The Commercial Taxes Department would introduce a data analysis and revenue forecasting system to augment tax collection. Online connectivity to all check-posts and installation of GST software call centre support to provide live assistance to all stakeholders too have been envisaged.
Revamp of cashew sector on the cards
A total revamp of the business models in the Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation and the Cashew Workers Apex Industrial Cooperative Society (CAPEX) would be introduced for attaining better transparency and for long-term sustainability. A project, Khadi Gramam, would be launched next financial year at an estimated cost of Rs.23.79 crore to enhance khadi production, employing those in the weaker sections of society. A khadi marketing complex at Kottayam and a Gandhi Khadi Museum at Payyanur too are being considered by the government, he said.
A handloom exhibition-cum-trading centre would be set up in Kannur next year. Handloom clusters would be formed in select revenue blocks where units and weavers are concentrated. Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (Kinfra) plans to develop a defence park at Ottappalam. It also plans to set up industrial development zones at Palakkad, Thodupuzha, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode, and Kannur.
50 panchayats to be developed as model ones
The government has decided to develop 50 grama panchayats as model ones with facilities for providing safe food and drinking water.
A sum of Rs.6,510 crore has been spent through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and about 17 lakh families get employment every year. Working hours has been rescheduled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the daily wage has been revised from Rs.150 to Rs.227, he said.
The government has entered into long-term agreements with power-generating companies outside the State to bring in 1,415 MW at affordable rates.
Diagnostic services in three cities
The government will implement Karunya Diagnostic Services in three cities – Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Ernakulam – in the current financial year. In the second phase, the project will be extended to Kannur, Palakkad, Thrissur, Kottayam, Alappuzha, and Kollam and the rest of the districts in the final phase. The plan is to have multi-specialty diagnostic laboratories across the State, called Karunya Diagnostic Services, by 2020.
A State-level Virology Diagnostic and Research Lab will be set up in the capital city. Another major plan was to develop the Departments of Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Government Medical College, Kottayam, as Regional Cardiothoracic Institute.
Steps on to declare Kerala organic State
The government is launching a series of activities aimed at declaring Kerala an organic State by 2016.Strengthening the pesticide residue analytical facilities in laboratories and extending assistance for organic farming to farmers across the State are some of the major initiatives outlined by the Governor to promote organic farming. Formation of organic farmers’ clusters, certification for organic products, eco-shops, and establishment of laboratories for quality testing of organic manure, biofertilizers, and biopesticides would be taken up.
Soil survey
Mr. Sathasivam said a detailed soil survey would be carried out in 50,000 hectares to generate a panchayat- level soil resource inventory. As many as 20 waterbodies would be renovated or constructed in 12 districts and plant health clinics established at the block level for systematic pest surveillance and integrated pest management.
The Governor said an insurance scheme for ducks and duck farmers would be launched, under plans to revive the duck farming sector in the aftermath of the avian influenza outbreak. Three new goat farms and a goat-rearing unit were on the anvil, apart from other initiatives like a State-level referral laboratory for quality control of livestock and poultry feed and a new cell culture vaccine production facility.
Increase in tree cover
Listing the initiatives in forest conservation, Mr. Sathasivam said Kerala had registered an increase in tree cover to the tune of 6.85 per cent during the period 2013 to 2015. Ernakulam and Kozhikode had been selected for the first phase of the innovative urban forestry project aimed at increasing the green cover in cities. The Governor said an SMS-based alert system would be deployed to warn people and bring down man- animal conflict. A seamless wireless network system would be introduced to monitor forest areas and reduce forest crime.
Phenomenal changes in education
The school education sector in the State has witnessed ‘phenomenal changes’, both in academic and infrastructural aspects, during the tenure of the UDF government, the Governor’s address read. A number of schools in the State have undergone major changes in terms of infrastructural facilities with funds from the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan. Textbooks for standards one to ten have been revised after a long gap of 10 years. While 62 higher secondary schools were sanctioned, 167 aided higher secondary schools were sanctioned by this government.
