KERALA

Kerala State Audit Department has raised an audit objection for a whopping amount of nearly Rs 1.6 crore spent for several projects in Kumily panchayat for the financial year 2021-22 citing anomalies in the tendering and related matters.

According to the original copy of the audit reports of different projects send to all the 20 ward members of the LDF-governed civic body, apart from anomalies, issues like the company winning the tender login in the public-owned procurement portal like Government e-Market Place (GeM) using the confidential information available with the panchayat and alleged tampering of the stamp papers used for signing the contract have also been raised.

The audit report has mentioned objections to the funds spent for the video conferencing hall, erecting mini mast lights, streetlights, and solar streetlights. As much as Rs 77,18,919 spent on the streetlight project has been facing objections from the audit department.

The secondPinarayi Vijayangovernment takes oath with an unprecedented mandate. It has a chance to rewrite the HISTORY ofKeralalike no other government in the past 50 years. Here is my humble advice for the newly-elected CM.

Minimise interference: Kerala has been immensely successful with a decentralized, participatory model of Governance. But, from time to time, bureaucratic bungling, in the form of interference in pushing the rule of the ruler ahead of , has caused much misery.

2. Make Health, Education, and wealth creation key governance issues: Kerala has the potential to be the number one state in India in all three parameters. Although it has done exceedingly well on wealth and wellness, it lags behind its potential in education and Entrepreneurship.

Do not make great ideas a prisoner of ideology: Despite his ideological underpinning, Vijayans government has maderemarkable progressin investing in techno-commercial enterprises that has helped raise the quality of lives of its people. One hopes that he will continue to embrace and act on good ideas irrespective of their origin.

Kerala for All: Kerala cities will need to become more cosmopolitan and multilingual to compete in the changing world. This government should encourage professionals from different parts of the world to work and live here.

Strike a balance between stability and change: Governance is not the same as a government. Government is a blunt instrument designed to enforce the will of the many over the few. All living systems have this tension between being conservative and progressive. By swearing in a young cabinet, the government has taken the first progressive step. The young leaders should be allowed to implement some of their change ideas.

Start CMs research fellowships: The one-year fellowship programme follows a field research and forum approach, wherein, researchers spend six weeks in the field in their respective districts, following which they gather together at IIM campus inKochi,Kozhikodeto collate their findings, brainstorm solutions and prepare their presentations to the CM. Their work is further structured into three essential workstreams Modules, Capsules and Pilots, each designed or facilitated by IIM and other academic institutions.

Open and share data transparently for Good Governance: The story of governance, at least in the past few hundred years, is also that of a move towards democratization and transparency. Data in general, but government-produced data in particular is and should be on a path towards democratization.This means that data should be open. Open data from government-sponsored research projects can lead to advancements in healthcare or even in entrepreneurial activities.

The government’s RT Mission will spread its activities across Kerala by introducing responsible tourism practices in all tourist accommodation units.

Riyas said the government has decided to revise its 2008 Declaration on RT and scale up its Environment-friendly activities across the state.

Forest revenue that contributes a significant share to the States non-tax revenue has witnessed a steady decline since 2018.

The Economic Review 2021 which recorded the trends in forest revenue from 2017-18 to 2020-21 found the gradual fall coincided with the decrease in timber production during the last few years.

According to official statistics, the revenue from the Forestry sector by way of sale of timber and other forest produce was 236.8 crore in 2020-21. The returns have declined from 287.21 crore and 251.45 crore in 2018-19 and in 2019-20 respectively.

Notably, the slump began after 2018 when the Forest department had achieved a 17% hike in revenue from 245.42 crore in 2017-18.

The area under forest plantations also decreased marginally by 1.2% from 1.563 lakh hectares in 2019-20 to 1.544 lakh hectares in 2020-21.

Timber sale that generally accounts for over 90% of the forest revenue also fell from 226.52 crore in 2019-20 to 216.82 crore in 2020-21. During the period, the production of teak decreased by 7,402 cubic metres, despite there being a marked increase of 645 hectares in teak plantation. The government has attributed the recent drop in forest revenue to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In spite of a glum scenario, certain other products including honey, reeds, sandalwood and acacia mangium witnessed an increase in production from 2019 to 2020. Among them, sandalwood production increased from 11.7% during the period.

Though the budget presented by finance minister K N Balagopal did not announce any major IT projects, all major IT parks in the state managed to get fund allocation for development works. This will help make the IT corridor project announced in the previous budget a reality.

An amount of Rs 26. 60cr has been earmarked for developmental activities of Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram, Rs 35. 75cr for the development of Infopark, Kochi and Rs 12. 83cr for Cyber Park, Kozhikode.

A total of Rs 559cr has been earmarked for the IT sector, in the budget. Among this, Rs 127. 37cr has been provided forKeralaState Information Technology Mission and Rs 53cr for State Data Centre.

Kerala Fibre Optic Network (K-FON) project got Rs 100cr while Rs 2cr was earmarked for providing free household Internet connection under K-FON project to 70,000 eligible BPL families. For this, 500 families will be identified in each assembly constituency.

Transport ministerAntony Rajusaid here on Wednesday that KIIFB has approved a project to the tune of Rs 87.18 crore as part of widening ofParvathy Puthanar.

About 19.1 acres land will be acquired from Panathura, Edayar, Moonattumukku, Poonthura, Muttathara,Vallakadavu, Chackai, Karikkakom andVenpalavattomfor widening the canal. The canal is being widened to 25 metres.

The will acquire 20 acres of private land to rehabilitate 803 families who will be evicted from the banks of Parvathy Puthanar as part of canal widening project.

Keralawaterways and Infrastructure limited (KWIL) chief engineer had requested for taking steps to acquire the land measuring 20.06 acres of land owned by private parties for rehabilitation purposes.

Many enclosure villages located inside the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) under Noolpuzha panchayat are demarcated as eco sensitive zone (ESZ) in the map published on Thursday. Adding to the confusion, many of these enclosure villages are designated as forest areas in the satellite survey.

“It is totally confusing.Four of our wards (1, 2, 3 and 12) in Vadakkadad area are entirely missing in the satellite survey as these areas are classified as forest.

The panchayat borders with three protected forests spread over three states — the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka’s Bandipur Tiger Reserve and Tamil Nadu’s Mudumalai Tiger Reserve — and most of the human habitations there face the prospect of getting included in one-km ESZ if the SC order is implemented.

The government has completed the drone survey in Cheruvally Estate, identified as the proposed site for the upcomingSabarimalaairport project.
The survey by the consultant Louis Berger Consulting Private Limited, covered 1,450 hectares, including the proposed location for the project.

The techno economic feasibility and Social Impact Assessment reports for the project initiated in 2017 were conducted by the same consultant have been submitted to the Centre. The government has also appointed KSIDC as the nodal agency for implementing the project.
After the reports were submitted by the state to the ministry of civil aviation, it had raised certain queries regarding the project. Quoting the observations of the director general of civil aviation, the ministry of civil aviation had sought certain clarifications from the government while considering the application for project clearance. The government has submitted clarifications to the Centre and the nod is expected soon.

It has also been estimated that 130 structures and five common property Resources (approximately) will be impacted, including a church, a temple, a mosque and a hospital. The airport which is estimated to have 800 passengers during peak hour by 2029-30 and 1,850 passengers during peak hour by 2049-50 is expected to break even only in 60 years, said the consultant. This raises several questions on the economic viability of the project.

Setting a major milestone in the path towards digital transformation of Kerala economy, the Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology Act, 2021 has come into effect. Governor Arif Mohammad Khan has signed the Bill which was unanimously passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly last month, a varsity statement said here.

The Act intended to establish and incorporate a non-affiliating research and TEACHING university in Kerala to facilitate and promote studies, research, incubation and knowledge extension work in Digital Technologies and its application domains.

The transformation of Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IIITM-K) to the Digital University Kerala has been accomplished with the introduction of the Act, it said.

The Governor’s address in January 22, 2018, has first announced the government’s plan to upgrade IIITM-K as a prominent centre for research and Education in the field of latest technologies.

This was also announced in the budget speech in February 2018. Following this, Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology ordinance was published in January, 2020.