Kerala cabinet approves relief packages for disaster victims, fishermen

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 7 (PTI) The Kerala cabinet on Wednesday decided to allocate Rs 58.45 lakh from the Chief Minister's relief fund for 143 disaster victims whose houses were completely or partially damaged in the natural disasters in Pathanamthitta district since January 2023.

Compensation will also be provided to fishermen for 14 days of work lost between May 18 and 31, 2025 due to the weather warning banning fishing, an official release here said.

A sum of Rs 48.20 crore will be allocated from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund to be distributed to 1,72,160 fishermen and their dependent families.

The cabinet also decided to provide Rs 3 lakh from the CM’s relief fund to Kumari Akhil, the youngest daughter of Sudhakaran, who was murdered in Pothundi in Nenmara of Palakkad district.

The dependents of Jayaram, Michael and Sundarapandyan, natives of Tamil Nadu who died while cleaning a sewage tank in Kattappana village in Idukki district, will be provided with Rs 5 lakh each from the CM’s Fund.

A sum of Rs 21.93 lakh will be allocated from the Relief Fund to the district collectors concerned for distributing margin money to 20 farmers and entrepreneurs who have taken loans from South Indian Bank, Thrissur branch. under the Ujjivan Loan Scheme.

The 20 reserve sub-inspector posts in the police department will be upgraded to create 20 Reserve Inspector posts. The posts are being upgraded because a higher post is essential for supervising the operations of the Armed Reserve Camp, the release said.

It was also decided to increase the salaries of the posts of Srank, boat driver, lasker, boat commander, assistant boat commander, and special marine home guard at the coastal police stations.

The cabinet also approved the beautification projects of the Heritage Village project and AKG Memorial Hall at Mavilayi in Kannur district, with financial assistance from KIIFB under the Local Self-Government department.

The 10th salary revision will be granted to the employees of the National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH) with retrospective effect from July 1, 2019.

An additional government guarantee of Rs 400 crore will be provided to the Kerala State Backward Classes Development Corporation for a period of five years to avail loans from the National Safai Karmachari Finance Development Corporation (NSKFDC).

The cabinet also decided to provide a guarantee of Rs 8 crore for eight years to the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) for the successful implementation of the e-ticketing project in all cinema theatres in Kerala, the release said. PTI MVG MVG ROH