Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that his government will go ahead with its war on corruption.
Addressing a meeting of editors of print and visual media here on Saturday, the Chief Minister said it was heartening that the media in general were, despite their criticism of the government over various issues, appreciative of the strong stand taken by the government on corruption. Even those who were critical of the government initially were now ready to accept that the government’s intentions were above reproach, he pointed out.
Mr. Vijayan said the government would soon come out with its industrial policy, with focus on ‘ease of doing business.’ The government was also at work on its liquor policy, the details of which would be announced in the coming days. The government was planning to clean up all its rivers and, towards this end, it planned to constitute a board. The proposal to form a Kerala Maritime Board for the planned development of smaller ports was also very much on the table.
“I would even say that the Martime Board is already in place, though I cannot say that for sure,” a smiling Mr. Vijayan said.
He sought to allay fears about how the proposed Kerala Bank would impact the cooperative sector and said the primary cooperatives would remain as they were. The government decision was to amalgamate the District Cooperative Banks (DCBs) with the State Cooperative Bank. This would help the State leverage the huge financial assets of the District Cooperative Banks for the State’s development. The State Cooperative Bank was already under the supervision of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This would continue. Funds received from Nabard, which was now being routed through DCBs, would not get transferred directly to the primary cooperatives, he added.
The Chief Minister said solid waste management was a major area of concern for the State and hoped that the issue could be sorted out in the coming days. The State government wanted to improve the quality of public healthcare and education through the four missions that it had announced. It would also strengthen e-governance with the objective of linking all homes to the Internet, so that they could secure government services without any hassles, Mr. Vijayan said.
