Kerala aid to tour to 14 countries planned

Thiruvananthapuram: The Cabinet on Friday decided to collect funds in countries which have sizeable population of Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs). The funds will be raised with the help of the members of Loka Kerala Sabha and NRK organisations towards the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF).

At a press conference here to brief Cabinet decisions, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said a minister and a team of officials would be deputed to finalise and execute the overseas fund collection drive. The team will visit UAE, Oman, Baharin, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Germany, USA and Canada to raise funds from the NRKs.

The government also decided to organise fund collection drive in major cities across the country with the cooperation of Malayali organisations. Ministers and officials would be given specific responsibilities for this purpose.

Besides, funds will be collected in all districts and local centres for the CMDRF under the supervision of ministers and senior officials. A special fund collection drive will be carried out among the organisations and individuals who are interested in taking part in the process of state’s rebuilding. 

The special campaign will be held from September 10 to September 15. Ahead of the campaign, collectors will convene meetings on September 3 to finalise the programmes related to fund collection campaign. The following ministers have been given the charge districts for conducting the fund collection drive.

Kasargod: E. Chandrashekharan, Kannur: E.P. Jayarajan, K.K. Shylaja, Wayanad: Ramachandran Kadanapally, Kozhikode: T.P. Ramakrishnan, A.K. Saseendran, Malappuram: K.T. Jaleel,  Palakkad: A.K. Balan, Thrissur: C. Raveendranath, V.S. Sunilkumar, Ernakulam: A.C. Moideen (E.P. Jayarajan will assist), Idukki: M.M. Mani, Kottayam: Thomas Isaac, K. Raju, Alappuzha: G. Sudhakaran, Thilothaman, Pathanamthitta: Mathew T. Thomas, Kollam: J. Mercy Kutty Amma and Thiruvananthapuram: Kadakampally Surendran.

The Cabinet decided to collect funds in professional schools, government and aided schools and government controlled educational institutions on September 11 for the CMDRF. The general education department and higher education department have been entrusted with the task. The participation of CBSE and ICSE institutions will also be ensured.

The appeal made by the government for contributions to the CMDRF for the rebuilding of the state battered by foods, has received huge support from across the world. People having resources and limited resources, both have come forward to support the sate in this hour of crisis. This has instilled huge confidence.

The Cabinet decided to implement a loan scheme for the small shopkeepers who lost everything in the floods. The shopkeepers will get loans up to Rs 10 lakh from banks. Self-help groups and Kudumbasree will also be able to avail the facility. The families which had lost household goods in the floods would be provided Rs 1 lakh loan. The interest on the loan will be borne by the government.

To ensure regular repayment, the loans will be provided through Kudumbasree. The government will sign an agreement with the consortium of banks for this purpose. The information about the destruction of houses in the floods will be collected in digital format.