Date:01/10/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/10/01/stories/2006100113470100.htm

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Package inadequate: Achuthanandan

Special Correspondent

Government to submit a project to the Centre seeking assistance for Idukki, Alappuzha

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The agriculture package of Rs.765 crore sanctioned by the Centre for Kasaragod, Wayanad and Palakkad districts is insufficient, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has said.

Mr. Achuthanandan told presspersons here on Saturday that the State Government had sought Rs.3,412 crore for Kasaragod, Wayanad, Palakkad, Idukki and Alappuzha districts. The sum sought for Kasaragod, Wayanad and Palakkad was Rs.2,259 crore. The Government had also sought a subsidy of Rs.1,293 crore and an additional relief of Rs.2,253 crore for other sectors. Unlike in the previous years, the Government had succeeded in securing relief from the Centre, but it was insufficient.

He said the Centre had agreed to give a special package for Idukki and Alappuzha districts. A portion of the assistance to be sanctioned by the Centre would be utilised for maintenance of the Thaneermukkam saltwater barrier and outer barriers in Kuttanad.

The Government would submit a project to the Centre to secure more assistance for the two districts.

He said 25,000 labourers had been rendered unemployed following lockout in 25 plantations in Idukki.

If the Centre sent an official delegation to the State, the process of granting assistance could be expedited.

Though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had expressed his inability in adding more districts to his programme to grant assistance for 31 districts all over the country, he had agreed to consider the demands of the State, Mr. Achuthanandan said.

A package was not the only solution to overcome the crisis. But Mr. Achuthanandan said he would write to the Centre seeking more assistance. The MPs from Kerala too should pressure the Centre for this, he said.

The cut in import cess had had a direct bearing on the agriculture sector. Farmers cultivating cash crops were suffering an annual loss of Rs.7,000 crore owing to the flaws in the new import policy, which was framed without taking the State into confidence.

Hence, the Government should change the import policy dictated by the World Trade Organisation, which was also opposed to agriculture subsidy.

Debt relief panel

Formation of an agriculture debt relief commission and a commission for stabilising prices of agriculture produce was in the final stage.

The Government was expecting Central assistance in this regard, he said.

Asked about a board put up by the Tamil Nadu Government on the Mullaperiyar dam site, Mr. Achuthanandan said such steps could not provoke the Government and its officials. The Supreme Court which had ruled in favour of raising the water level earlier had now ordered to evolve a consensus among State Governments on such issues, he said.