The Hindu Business Line : FACT revival among 21 issues CM to take up with Centre

THE State Government will seek final approvals from the Centre for the restructuring of Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd (FACT) and for the expansion of Hindustan Newsprint Ltd (HNL).

In all, 21 key issues relating to the State will figure in the discussions the Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, is scheduled to have with the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, in Delhi on Thursday.

Mr Chandy told newspersons after a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday that the setting up of an international airport at Kannur and the State Government's proposal for starting an airline of its own would be among the issues that would be taken up with the Prime Minister.

The Chief Minister said the revival scheme for FACT has to get the clearance of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and the Committee of Secretaries.

In the case of the Rs 700-crore expansion programme of HNL, all approvals, except that of CCEA, have been obtained.

Speicial railway zone: He said he would also meet the Union Railway Minister and take up with him the demand for sanctioning a separate railway zone for the State.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet has approved introduction of a health insurance scheme for families below poverty line (BPL) in the State. The details of the scheme have already been worked out and it would be implemented soon, the Chief Minister said.

As per the scheme, the Government would meet one-third of the premium payment, while the local bodies and the beneficiaries would share equally the balance of the premium amount.

Mr Chandy said the Cabinet discussed several welfare schemes for the tsunami-affected people and they would be announced on December 23.

He reiterated that there was no change in the Government's stand on self-financing institutions in the State. This had been conveyed to the Centre even before the introduction of the Constitution Amendment Bill in Parliament, seeking reservation of seats for socially and educationally backward classes in private unaided educational institutions.

The fees for the Government quota in these institutions would be at the existing rate in Government-run institutions, while the rates would be higher for management quota as fixed by the commission constituted by the Government. There is no change in that position, he said.