A State Tourism Investment Promotion Board under the Chief Minister is to be set up to attract more investment to the sector.
The Minister for Tourism will be its vice chairman and the Secretary, Tourism, the convenor. The Cabinet, on Wednesday, gave its nod for this, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said.
The Ministers for Finance, Revenue, Industries, Health, and Agriculture would be the other members on the board, he said.
The Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Tourism; Principal Secretary, Finance; Secretaries of Industries and Health; Director, Kerala Tourism; leading banks; and representatives of the trade would be on the board.
Membership
The Cabinet decided to give membership to 321 persons, above 55 years of age, in the Kerala Non-Resident Keralites Welfare Board. They would get pension if they paid the contribution for five years without break, Mr. Chandy said.
Scheduled Tribe families in the BPL category would get free timber for constructing houses. Necessary amendments had been made to the government order of November 2010. Mr. Chandy said they would need the permission of the Forest Range Officer concerned to cut trees.
The Cabinet decided to lease out 1.50 acres of land of the Irrigation Department to the Koothattukulam village in Ernakulam district for 30 years to construct an indoor stadium. The 11 families staying on the premises of the public sector Sitaram Textiles in Thrissur would get the land on the condition that it ‘would not be exchanged.’ The Cabinet also decided to revise the salary of the employees of the Kerala State Construction Corporation Ltd. from July 2004.
Efforts to attract investment to sector
Chief Minister to head the board