Date:09/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/09/stories/2008040960590100.htm

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Decision on all-party team on aid today

Special Correspondent

KOCHI: Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran has said the payment of aid to farmers who suffered crop loss in last month’s out-of-season rain will be completed in a couple of days.

He told mediapersons here on Tuesday that the State suffered a crop loss of Rs.393 crore in the summer rain. This was in addition to the extensive damage to roads, bridges and other public utilities.

Mr. Ratnakaran said that the State government was thinking of sending an all-party delegation to New Delhi to persuade the Central government to allocate more aid to Kerala. A decision would be taken at Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.

The delegation, he said, would press the Central government to modify its criteria for disaster relief and increase the quantum of aid to Kerala. If the Centre went by the existing criteria, the State would get only a paltry sum. The Minister said he would also raise the need for modifying the aid criteria at the April 23 meeting of State Agriculture Ministers called by the Centre.

The Agriculture Minister said that he would tell Central government leaders to keep Kerala out of the sites for trials of genetically-engineered crops.

Kerala should not be laboratory for genetically modified food, the Agriculture Minister added.