Non-Resident Keralites Payment Till June Stood At Rs.1.42 Lakh Crore

Thiruvananthapuram: Total remittance from non-resident Keralites (NRK) in Kerala banks till June last stood at Rs 1,42,669 crore, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed the assembly on Monday.

More than 2.5 million Keralites living outside the country contribute 40 per cent of state's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), he said during the Question Hour.

The Muslim-dominated Malappuram district topped the list in getting the highest amount of foreign remittance and the lowest was high-range Idukki district.

The government plans to introduce a comprehensive scheme for rehabilitation of the Keralites living abroad who return to Kerala due to various problems they face in their place of work, Mr Vijayan added.

Referring to the high flight fares for foreign destinations particularly to the Gulf countries, he said the centre has to interfere on this matter. But it seems the centre had washed off its hand on over charging by flight operators, said.

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It's stand was that airline companies had the right to fix fares, Mr Vijayan added.

In another reply, Mr Vijayan said the centre had failed to understand the particular situation of Kerala while implementing the Food Security Act, planned to be brought into force in the state from next month.

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There were efforts to destroy the public distribution system in the state and it was part of that strategy the ration cards were bifurcated into two (above poverty line and below poverty line), he said.

The centre had assured that enough food grains would be given to state, which cultivate cash crops, but this "assurance" had been broken with the new Food Security Act, he added.

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State Food Minister P Thilothaman said the draft of the priority list of beneficiaries under the act has been published in all ration shops.

"However, there were several complaints over the list. The local people's representatives should interfere to sort out the issues", he said.

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Government employees, teachers, Public Sector Undertaking staff, those who file income tax return, person who owns more than one acre land, were some of the categories excluded from the priority list, he said.

The state's quota of food grain was 14.25 lakh tonne. About 10.25 lakh tonne was necessary for distributing to the beneficiaries as per the new priority list, he said.

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The government would try to implement the Act on a time bound basis, he said.

Meanwhile, there was heavy rush of people, most of them women, who wanted to rectify anomalies in the priority list at Neyyatinkara taluk office in Thiruvananthapuram.

Some women who waited at the venue from the morning fainted, police said.