Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday announced an ex gratia payment of ₹25 lakh to the family of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer V. V. Vasantha Kumar who was killed in a suicide bomb attack on a paramilitary convoy that claimed the lives of 40 combatants at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14.
Mr Vijayan told journalists that the Government would build a house for the family at Wayanad, the home district of the slain soldier, and sponsor the education of his children.
The Government would also provide permanent employment to Vasantha Kumar's wife in the Kerala Veterinary University where she was employed temporarily. The CM said of the ₹25 lakhs, the State would give Rs 15 lakhs to Vasanta Kumar's wife, and the rest would go to his mother.
'Achievements of LDF rule'
Listing the achievements of 1000 days of LDF rule, Mr. Vijayan said Kerala had become investment friendly.
The Government had abolished the practice of `nokkukooli' (extortion without doing any work) by headload workers).
Mr. Vijayan listed the Kannur International Airport, the 444 km GAIL sponsored gas pipeline from Mangalapuram, the Kollam national highway by-pass, the Koodamkulam power highway, work on the Vizhinjam port and the Thalassery-Mahe four lane by-pass as the significant achievements of his Government. He mooted CIAL model "Rubber Products Park" to alleviate the financial troubles of rubber cultivators.
The Government had halted inflation, curbed corruption, maintained law and order and fast-tracked the development and rebuilding of Kerala in the wake of the catastrophic floods last August.
He said the 1,267 km hill highway, the 557 km coastal highway, the Kovalam-Bekal waterway, extension of the Kochi Metro to Pettah would reach completion by 2020.
The Government has finalised the tender for ₹9000 crore KIFFB aided projects. Contractors have commenced work on KIFFB projects worth ₹5,500 crores. The State has green flagged an additional 500 schemes for ₹41,000 crores under KIFFB.
He said 3.4 lakh students had newly joined State-run schools. The Government has modernised more than 45,000 classrooms in Kerala, opened 44 dialysis centres and provided free wifi to 14,096 State-aided schools. The Government had upgraded hospitals, pre-pre-empted the spread of contagions like NIPAH and brought in a universal health insurance scheme.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is scheduled to inaugurate the celebrations of LDF's 1000 days in power at Kozhikode on February 20. The week-long programme would conclude in Thiruvananthapuram on February 27.
