The Hindu Business Line : Kerala seeks revamp of rural job scheme

The State Government has written to the Centre seeking inclusion of agricultural acti-vities, construction of houses, manu-facture of smoke-less chulhas and construction of garbage pits as part of the scheme.

Our Bureau

Thiruvananthapuram, July 2

The Kerala Government has sought a revamp of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) to make it suitable to the specific conditions obtaining in the State.

This was stated by the Minister for Local Administration, Mr Paloli Mohammed Kutty, in reply to a calling attention motion in the State Assembly on Wednesday.

The Minister said that several aspects of the scheme were not relevant to the physical conditions of the State and hence needed changes. The State Government has already written to the Centre seeking inclusion of agricultural activities, construction of houses, manufacture of smokeless chulhas and construction of garbage pits as part of the scheme.

The Minister said that the Government was planning to prepare a list of agricultural activities in the State in a bid to ensure that enough number of farm labour is available during the sowing and harvest seasons. This was on the basis of suggestions that came up at a meeting of farmers and farm workers last month, he added.

Replying to questions in the House, the Minister for Transport, Mr Mathew T. Thomas, said that the Government would have to increase bus fares, including the concession for students. The revision of fares would be done without altering the existing fare stages.

He said that the operational cost of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) had gone up by Rs 8.5 crore as a result of the 15 per cent increase in fuel and other costs.

The Government had already held discussions with the Tamil Nadu Government for operating inter-State bus services and talks would be held with the Karnataka Government also soon for the same purpose.

More Stories on : Rural Development | Employment | Kerala

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