Into his third year as Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan is in a twin-mission mode, to preserve one reputation of the State and alter another.
Mr. Vijayan has turned the question of women’s entry at the Sabarimala shrine to a campaign to uphold Kerala’s heritage of social reforms; and he is simultaneously campaigning to amend the perception that the State has an unfriendly investment climate.
“That is an unfounded perception,” he said during an interaction with journalists ahead of a conference to showcase his government’s new reform initiatives.
“Which other place is as peaceful, with people as literate, skilled and cultured as here,” Mr. Vijayan said. “Law and order is excellent, people from outside are welcomed, and we have four international airports. Connectivity within the State is rapidly increasing,” he said. On the sidelines of Ascend 2019, a conference to encourage entrepreneurship in Kerala, Mr. Vijayan said his government was taking proactive measures to optimise the favourable factors in the State that must be enticing for investors anywhere in the world.
“I have personally sought to understand from those who have invested in Kerala and run enterprises here. While they are happy and have not reported any problem, we have identified two specific issues that crop up during the setting up of a new unit — one is the ‘nokku koolie’, (literally looking wages, or the money levied by organised workers who are not employed by the project) and the other is an organised attempt to force companies to employ people. We have spoken to trade unions regarding this, and they all agree that both these practices need to end. And hence we have ended them,” he said.
All-party meet on hartal
On a third issue of hartals, the Chief Minister said in response to a question: “We do not want to curb people’s right to protest, but hartal is an extreme form of protest and should be used only very sparingly. We are talking to all parties to evolve an agreement on this. We will call a meeting of all parties soon.”
More than 100 reforms had been done by Kerala with the unanimous support of all political parties, said K. Ellangovan, Principal Secretary, Department of Industries. The official pointed out that in an omnibus piece of legislation last year, Kerala made 27 changes across seven Acts. Other changes were made in rules, and regulations at the local bodies’ level. Starting Monday, all licence applications in the State can be tracked real time, will be deemed to be granted if the officials do not process them in 30 days. Most supporting documents will be self-certified, which will make the whole climate trust-based, said Tom Jose, Chief Secretary.
“When someone comes to set up a unit in your area, treat them as someone who is trying to help you. If some of you don’t have that mindset, change now. We are starting with 30 days’ deadline for licences, but soon it will be reduced to 15 days,” the Chief Minister told the delegates that included a large number of government officials. E.P. Jayarajan, the Chief Minister’s confidant and Minister for Industries, said the new online portal, KSWIFT, would process 20 services across 14 departments with one application and within the stipulated 30-day window.
Mr. Vijayan said the government’s attempts to woo investors factor in the scarcity of land. “We cannot be extravagant in offering land to entrepreneurs,” he said.
Mr. Jose said the government was encouraging vertical expansion, and less land-demanding industries, mostly knowledge and tourism-based. Parallel to that, a slew of heavy infrastructure projects such as the Vizhinjam Port and the GAIL pipeline were also taking shape. A greenfield industrial cluster of 5,000 acres was being planned in Kannur, with land being acquired at market rates. While the government was procuring land through its own agencies, it was also incentivising private parties to consolidate land for industrial purposes.
Mr. Vijayan said the government would look for more projects on the ‘CIAL model’ — CIAL stands for the Cochin International Airport Limited — the country’s first PPP airport. “…where the government remains an active partner, and manages while welcoming and encouraging capital from the private sector.”
“That is our own PPP model,” the CPI(M) Chief Minister said, referring to the project pioneered by former Congress Chief Minister K. Karunakaran.
