Kerala Minister for Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Printing and Stationery K. P. Mohanan said here on Monday that steps were being taken to streamline the implementation of the Kuttanad Package.
The Minister, who had visited Kuttanad to review the implementation recently, said that the he would be giving his report on his assessment to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in a few days. The monitoring committee, announced by the Chief Minister, would be formed shortly.
Mr. Mohanan told journalists that he was not responding to the criticism made by Congress leader Kodikunnil Suresh about his visit to Kuttanad. The Chief Minister had deputed him to visit Kuttanad and any comments on the issue should be sought from Mr. Chandy.
He said that the Agriculture Department had completed nine of the 16 schemes proposed under the 100 days action plan. The proposal to take up organic farming in 232 acres of cashew plantations under the Plantation Corporation of Kerala could not be taken up owing to difficulty in getting organic manure. The remaining schemes were under various stages of implementation. The Animal Husbandry Department carried out 27 out of the 31 schemes proposed to be completed in 100 days.
The completed programmes included promotion of vegetable cultivation, organisation of Onam markets, pension scheme for marginal farmers and establishment of cattle feed factory in Malabar, modern rice mill at Vechoor, chicken feed factory at Kodungalloor, high-tech layer breeder farm at Kuryottumala (Kollam district), latex factory at Kodumon estate and seed godown at Alappuzha.
The multi-colour web-offset press, proposed to be established at the government press at Mannanthala near here during the period, would be inaugurated by the Chief Minister on Tuesday. The Stationery Department completed only one of the four proposals.
