The Kerala Cabinet on Wednesday cleared a range of decisions spanning welfare schemes, memorial institutions, education, land acquisition, flood relief and appointments across departments, with a focus on youth support, administrative approvals and long-pending vacancies.

Revised guidelines for ‘Connect to Work’ scheme

The Cabinet approved revised guidelines for the Chief Minister’s ‘Connect to Work’ scheme, fixing the annual family income ceiling for applicants at Rs 5 lakh.

Eligible applicants must be permanent residents of Kerala and aged between 18 and 30 years on the date of application. They should be undergoing skill training at Central or State government departments, public sector undertakings, their subsidiary institutions, recognised universities or deemed universities, or approved private institutions currently in operation.

Those who have applied for and are preparing for competitive examinations conducted by the UPSC, State PSC, Service Selection Boards, the Army, Navy, Air Force, banks, railways and other Central and State public sector recruitment agencies will also be eligible.

Scholarships will be provided to the first five lakh eligible applicants. The scheme aims to boost youth confidence, sustain learning motivation and improve employment opportunities through skill development.

Implemented through the government Employment Department, applications can be submitted via the eemployment.kerala.gov.in portal. The scholarship amount will be transferred directly to beneficiaries’ bank accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer. A monthly scholarship of Rs 1,000 will be provided for 12 months.

Land leases for memorial institutions

The Cabinet approved leasing 1.139 acres of land at Vadikkal, Thalassery, for establishing the Kodiyeri Balakrishnan Memorial Study and Research Centre in memory of late CPM veteran and former minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.

The land will be leased to the Kodiyeri Balakrishnan Memorial Academy of Social Sciences (KBMASS) for 30 years at an annual rate of Rs 100 per Are.

In a similar decision, a 25-cent plot at Kowdiar, Thiruvananthapuram, will be leased to the KM Mani Foundation for setting up the KM Mani Memorial Institute for Social Transformation in memory of late Kerala Congress (M) veteran and former minister KM Mani.

This land will also be provided on a 30-year lease at a rate of Rs 100 per Are.

Other major decisions

The Cabinet approved the creation of 48 teaching posts for courses newly sanctioned in government Arts and Science colleges during the 2020–21 academic year.

Appointments will be made in subjects with a 16-hour workload.

It also decided to retain Prasanth Kulangara, HST (Malayalam) at CHM Higher Secondary School, Elayavoor, Kannur, in service with benefits. He suffered severe head injuries in a road accident, resulting in 90 per cent disability.

To facilitate this, permission was granted to create a supernumerary HST (Malayalam) post at the school.

Revised administrative sanction was granted for acquiring land under the Land Acquisition Act to extend Palakkaad’s Moolathara Valathukara canal from Varattar to Velanthavalam.

The sanction covers the acquisition of 2,087.97 cents of land, with an approved amount of Rs 35,43,21,934.

The Cabinet permitted the Kozhikode District Collector to release Rs 18,40,000 to five beneficiaries in the district for rebuilding houses damaged in the 2018 floods.

The amount will be disbursed from the contribution made by the Care and Share Foundation to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund.

Approval was given to fill 26 NJD vacancies arising from sportspersons not joining service.

Of these, 20 retired sportspersons will be appointed against regular vacancies, either existing or arising first. Six sportspersons currently active in the field will be appointed in supernumerary posts at respective taluk offices under the Revenue Department.