Date:15/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/15/stories/2008111552640300.htm

Kerala - Kollam

KPCC petitions Prime Minister

Staff Reporter

Cashew Board office sought in Kollam

KOLLAM: Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala and Congress leader Sooranand Rajashekaran on Friday submitted a petition to the Prime Minister’s Office requesting that the proposed Cashew Board Office be established in Kollam at the earliest.

Talking from Delhi over phone, Mr. Rajashekaran said that the petition was handed over to the Prime Minister’s principal secretary T.K.A. Nair.

PMO directive

Following the submission of the petition, the PMO has directed the secretaries of the Finance, Commerce and Agriculture Departments to meet at the earliest and settle the issue, Mr. Rajashekaran said. The proposal for establishing the Board office at Kollam was moved by the Commerce Ministry.

Opposition

But it was opposed by the Agriculture Ministry, which reasoned that cashew plantations came under it and hence the proposal should be moved by the Agriculture Ministry. In the interim, the Finance Ministry expressed reservations over the establishment of the new board on technical grounds.

But all political parties in the State are demanding in unison that the board office should be established and that its location should be at Kollam.