Thiruvananthapuram, July 29: The Kerala government has taken significant steps to reduce administrative delays that burden the state treasury and protect consumers from sudden price hikes during festivals. The Kerala Cabinet announced a five-point administrative reform package and various market intervention measures ahead of Onam.
After the Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan stated that delays in project implementation were costing the government millions. These reforms aim to enhance operational efficiency, expedite decision-making, and make Kerala more business-friendly.
Central to these reforms is the creation of a ‘Special Asset Management Portal’ to digitally map all government properties and develop a comprehensive asset register that includes all government institutions.
The government will also launch ‘Plan Space 2.0,’ a GIS-enabled project registry. This initiative will geo-tag every major project approved by departments and allow for real-time tracking. Initially, around 2,000 projects will be included in this monitoring system.
The Cabinet has also decided to review and amend outdated, unnecessary, and contradictory laws that often cause project delays. Additionally, there will be efforts to modernize regulations to improve the ‘Ease of Doing Business.’
A committee of empowered secretaries will coordinate the implementation of these reforms across various departments.
The Chief Minister noted that there are currently 591 government institutions in the state, with an annual salary expenditure of approximately ₹19,000 crores. He mentioned that institutions with similar functions would be streamlined.
With only a few weeks until Onam, the Cabinet approved a large-scale intervention program to control inflation and ensure the availability of essential goods.
Between August 10 and 20, over one lakh free Onam kits will be distributed to yellow ration cardholders and individuals in welfare institutions. Each kit will contain 16 essential items worth ₹854.
Funding for this program has already been approved.
To stabilize rice prices, the government will release 165,932 metric tons of rice and 24,506 metric tons of wheat into the market.
As a special benefit for the festival, non-priority blue ration cardholders will receive three kilograms of rice at ₹10.90 per kilogram and two kilograms of wheat at ₹8.70 per kilogram.
Mega Onam trade fairs will be held in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, and Kozhikode from August 8 to 25, while district fairs and Onam markets will support market intervention in the remaining 11 districts and all assembly constituencies.
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