Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Over 5 lakh farmers join Kisansree scheme

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Over five lakh farmers have already joined the Kisansree insurance scheme of the State government scheduled to be launched on March 1 this year, Agriculture Minister Mullakara Ratnakaran told the Assembly on Monday.

Replying to a submission from CPI MLA E.S. Bijimol, the Minister said that the government would take measures to include the farmers who were yet to receive title deeds on their farm lands also in the scheme.

Answering a submission from Congress MLA Aryadan Mohammed, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs M. Vijayakumar said that the State government was hopeful that the Union Railway Budget this year would have a new project for the construction of a railway line linking Nilambur in Malappuram district and Nanchencode in Karnataka. He said the Indian Railways had surveyed the route and the report on the survey had reached the Railway Board in January this year.

Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said that a special police team under the Kottayam Deputy Superintendent of Police would take over the ongoing investigation into complaints relating to an unauthorised private finance company called M-Cube. He said the company had closed its operations after collecting money from a large number of people in Kottayam district. The Minister made this statement in reply to a submission from Kerala Congress(M) MLA C.F. Thomas.

Devaswom Minister G. Sudhakaran, answering a submission from Congress MLA K.C. Venugopal, admitted that “a mistake” had occurred in the affidavit the Guruvayur Devaswom Board had submitted before a court in Perinthalmanna. The affidavit had noted that the Devaswom Board had no evidence to establish whether poet Poonthanam had actually existed. Mr. Sudhakaran said that this observation, which had hurt the sentiments of devotees, had been removed from the Devaswom Board’s deposition before the court through an additional affidavit.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu