THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 19 May 2007 — The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government headed by veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader V.S. Achuthanandan completed its first year in office yesterday with claims of promises kept.
“The stage has already been set for the comprehensive development of the state,” said the 84-year-old CPI-M leader in a statement.
The chief minister claimed that the signing of Smart City (a self-contained hub for knowledge-based industries) agreement with Dubai’s Technology and Media Free Zone Authority “without compromising on the state’s interests” was the biggest achievement of his government.
“It was the result of a constant effort for 11 months,” he said. “This will pave the way for a quantum leap in the field of information technology. We have set a target for creating 200,000 jobs in the sector within five years.”
A new 400,000-square-foot block was inaugurated in Technopark here and a similar block is being completed at Infopark in Kochi. The proposed Technocity here and the IT hubs in district headquarters, along with the Smart City, would project Kerala as a hot IT destination, he added.
According to Achuthanandan, the reclamation of revenue and forest lands in the tourist hot spot of Munnar and the Farmers’ Debt Relief Commission were the other major achievements of the LDF government that came to power winning 98 of the 140 seats in the legislative assembly.
“The Debt Relief Commission can be treated as an extension of the Land Reforms Bill that the first Communist government initiated (in 1957),” he said. “The debts of 1,000 farmers who had committed suicide were written off. Assistance of 50,000 rupees each was handed over to the families of these farmers.”
He listed his other achievements as a drive against corruption, the establishment of law and order, laws to regulate shops and establishments, a welfare fund for dairy farmers, the initiation of the second edition of the People’s Planning Program, a focus on traditional industries, steps to reopen closed tea estates, water supply and irrigation schemes, market intervention to control prices and the Litter Free Kerala project.
Industries Minister Elamaram Kareem said the industrial environment in the state witnessed a perceptible change with the investors showing a higher level of enthusiasm than before and the production sector showing a newfound vibrancy.
The overall growth in the economy of the state and also the country as a whole has its reflection on this happy trend, Kareem said.
The government, on its part, had moved with a clear vision not only on reviving the ailing production sectors but also in bringing new investors to the state.
The biggest of the investment offers came from billionaire NRI businessman P.N.C. Menon, who is an Omani citizen, in Kochi and heads Shobha Group. He is building a technocity in Kochi at a cost of Rs.50 billion, which would generate around 75,000 jobs.
The Aditya Birla Group is getting ready the project plan for a so-called Knowledge City at Mavoor in Kozhikode, where the Birla Group had its rayon factory earlier. A park for new generation industries, which the Construction Industry Development Board of Malaysia is keen on setting up in Kozhikode, is also in the offing.
Kareem said 22 of the 40-odd public sector units were brought out of the red and they all made profits last year. The number was just 13 the previous year.
“We are now focusing on expansion and modernization of the production processes in some of the major companies, during the current year,” he said.
Disputing the claims, Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy said the first year of the LDF in office was one marked by total immobility on account of divisions within the CPI-M that leads the LDF and neglect of development issues and problems of the weaker sections.
In a statement on the eve of the first anniversary of the government, he said the government had been implementing with a vengeance all the policies of the previous United Democratic Front (UDF) government that he headed.
“They misled the voters by launching a publicity blitz against all the good deeds of my government. Now they are implementing everything that they had opposed while in the opposition. The left appears to have put into effect the dictum that there were no principles in love and war,” he said.
“The left had now swallowed many of its promises, proving that there was a great chasm between words and deeds,” he added.
He said the Smart City project was his government’s baby but when the government that succeeded his redrew the entire plan, the government stood to lose a lot. “The agreement that has been signed now is fraught with several shortcomings. The relative merits and demerits of the two agreements are slowly coming to light. The LDF must tell us if it has succeeded in launching any project other than the Smart City,” he said.
Chandy said the chief minister had declared before the assembly elections that those who sexually exploited women would be arrested and the Asian Development Bank loan would not be accepted, but he did not stick to his words.
“He said he would bring to book the rapists within six months, chain them and parade them before the people. But nothing happened and similar things are happening under his very nose,” he said.
He said 104 debt-stressed farmers had committed suicide since the LDF government came to power. “All the road development projects have come to a halt and the existing roads have turned into killing fields. The higher education sector is in shambles. They stalled the heavily subsidized universal health care insurance scheme that I introduced at a premium of Rs.33 that offered free hospitalization,” Chandy said.
Ramesh Chennithala, the Congress party’s president in Kerala, while hailing the demolition of unauthorized structures and eviction of encroachments in Munnar, said the Congress and the UDF that it leads, will support the drive launched by chief minister, but the people wanted to know whether it was the decision of Achuthanandan alone or a program of the LDF.
However, business and industry, which were skeptical initially about the left’s policies, feels there are still room for improvement. There were also concrete measures to allay their apprehensions especially those pertaining to tourism and industry.
“There was a lot of apprehension when the government took over, because over the years the left’s attitude toward business interests has not been rosy. But we are certainly elated at the manner in which the government has supported the tourism industry,” said businessman Tomy Pullikattil, who owns a dozen houseboats in Alappuzha.
