The Hindu Business Line : Kerala projects to bolster farm, employment, education sectors

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar. 14 The Kerala Government will soon launch a project for intensive cultivation of paddy in association with the Agriculture University.

Replying to questions in the State Assembly on Friday, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Mullakara Ratnakaran, said that 40,000 hectares of land suitable for paddy cultivation was lying unutilised in the State.

The Government has initiated steps to take up paddy cultivation on over 4,000 hectares every year.

The Minister said that the scheme of extending interest-free loan to paddy cultivators had been implemented in Palakkad district and that an amount of Rs 5 crore had already been disbursed under the scheme.

A proposal to extend the scheme to Alappuzha and Thrissur districts would be considered. Also, an exclusive mechanism to implement Centrally-sponsored schemes is on the anvil.

Labour conditions

The Minister for Labour, Mr P.K. Gurudasan, said that rules to improve the service conditions in the IT sector would be implemented if demanded by the employees.

In reply to a question, he said that as many as 18,457 persons had been recruited through the employment exchanges since the Government assumed office.

The highest number (2,427 persons) were recruited in Thiruvananthapuram, while Wayanad recorded the lowest figure of 735 persons, he added.

Education programmes

The Minister for Education, Mr M.A. Baby, told the House that the Government was planning to restructure and rename the ‘Agri@School’ programme, which was being coordinated by the Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council. The programme will be extended to all the schools in the State, he said.

The Minister said that the Higher Education Council was considering a proposal to form a scholarship fund of Rs 100 crore for indigent students.

The corpus of the fund will be raised through contributions from the Government and other agencies.

He informed the House that there was a fall of 48,191 students in Government schools and 47,250 students in aided schools in the current academic year.

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