Shashi Tharoor, the UDF candidate from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency for the upcoming polls, hopes to fulfil his long-pending Knowledge City proposal if voted to Parliament for a third consecutive term.
In his local development manifesto, the incumbent Congress MP harps on his ambition to build a Knowledge City that could join the ranks of leading research institutes here such as the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER). He also pledges to seek for upgrading the National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH) as a National University of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies (NURDS), a proposal that was reportedly rejected by the Central government.
Efforts will also be made to cultivate a start-up ecosystems and explore links between the city’s commercial hotspots such as the Apparel Park and national education institutes such as the National Institute for Design.
With an eye on the coastal vote base, Dr. Tharoor has assured to continue his efforts to create a separate Ministry of Fisheries and a Parliamentary Forum of Coastal MPs to focus on the needs of coastal and fishing communities. He also hopes to establish a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya for the children in coastal areas. He will also pursue the creation of a marine equivalent of the Territorial Army to train with the Navy and the Coast Guard to aid in future rescue efforts at sea.
The Congress leader also offers to lobby for enhancing air and rail connectivity from Thiruvananthapuram. He hopes to focus on realising Thiruvananthapuram-Velankanni-Madurai train services, additional MEMU facilities between the city and neighbouring regions, and frequent services to Bengaluru and other parts of south India.
He also promises to work for an Integrated Cultural Hub in the capital and also attract additional language and cultural immersion centres including a Mandarin/Cantonese language centre.
