Kerala Cabinet approves ‘Saral Keralam’ to simplify industrial approvals; know other key decisions

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan held a press conference here on Wednesday following a Cabinet meeting. The Cabinet took several decisions, including approval for the 'Saral Keralam' project, setting up two special courts for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Ernakulam and creating 18 new Radiographer Grade II posts.

'Saral Keralam'

The Cabinet approved the 'Saral Keralam' project to simplify procedures for starting industrial ventures in the state.

The initiative, based on the principle of "One State, One Approval, One Document", will provide a single-window mechanism for investment approvals.

"Under the scheme, investments between Rs 25 crore and Rs 50 crore will be handled by a district-level body, while proposals above Rs 50 crore will come under a state-level body," Satheesan told reporters after chairing the Cabinet meeting.

A committee has been constituted for the purpose and timelines have been fixed for different departments to examine investment proposals. The Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) will coordinate the process, the CM said.

"Once a proposal is received, the departments will have to complete their examination within the stipulated time and send their response back," he said.

The departments will continue to carry out their statutory scrutiny, but will have to complete it within the prescribed period. The approval body will then examine the responses and place the proposal before the committee for a final decision, Satheesan said.

An appeal mechanism has also been included in the scheme in case a department raises an objection that a proposal does not meet its requirements, he said.

The move is intended to end prolonged delays faced by investors, he said, pointing out that some investment proposals had remained pending for as long as seven years, while others had been pending for five years.

"This is therefore a major and revolutionary step to bring more investment to Keralam," Satheesan said.

He said the scheme was prepared after detailed studies and consultations with all departments.

A draft was circulated to the departments and their suggestions were incorporated before the final proposal was placed before the Cabinet and approved.

"This is a major step that will bring significant changes to Keralam's investment sector," he said, adding that "Saral Keralam is opening another door to state's development potential."

Other decisions

The Cabinet also decided to establish two special courts exclusively for the NIA in Ernakulam. The entire cost of these courts will be borne by the Central Government.

The Cabinet decided to create 18 new posts of Radiographer Grade II in the Health Department.

It also took a decision concerning areas classified as Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA).

The Oommen Chandy committee report had included 131 villages in its recommendations. The previous government had reduced this to 98 villages covering 8,590 square kilometres.

The present decision is to completely exclude Cardamom Hill Reserve (CHR) areas from the ESA classification. The Environment Department has published the map related to the decision.

The government is also considering certain relaxations for industries classified under the red category.

PSC irregularity and ED recommendation

Speaking about the PSC row, Satheesan said serious allegations of irregularities had been raised and that an investigation was under way.

He said the PSC chairman would not be given any special concessions and warned that if the chairman did not cooperate with the investigation, the police would have to explore other legal avenues.

On CMRL case, Satheesan said Pinarayi Vijayan and P A Mohammed Riyas had made contradictory statements about information in a diary seized during the investigation.

The government is examining the ED's recommendation to register a case against Pinarayi Vijayan. Satheesan said the ED letter referred to serious offences and that the government was examining the matter legally, rather than politically.

He said the two statements given by CMRL were also being examined. Satheesan said the decision would be taken by the government and not by the CPM politburo, adding that the government would take a decision soon.

Satheesan also criticised the CPM’s organisational restructuring and its handling of the election defeat.

He sarcastically said the politburo had escaped responsibility by placing the blame for the defeat on "poor" MV Govindan (CPM state secretary) and the people who voted.

He said the party leadership had still not identified the reason for the defeat.

"The people responsible for the defeat are interestingly seen escaping," he said, describing it as a strange situation. He added sarcastically that it was a good thing and that "we have no problem with it".

Power crisis expected to ease

Satheesan expressed hope that the state's power crisis would be brought fully under control within a week.

He also referred to various plans that are under way to address the crisis.

Reporter TV police search

Satheesan said the police inspection at Reporter TV was legal.

He said he was not aware of any disruption to news broadcasting and added that he himself came to know about the matter through the channel.

According to Satheesan, the Sports Department had submitted a complaint to the Home Department. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was subsequently formed, and the search at Reporter TV was conducted by the SIT as part of a legal investigation.

He said the seizure of phones was a matter related to the police investigation.