THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: VS Achuthanandan, who took over as chief minister on Thursday, struck a balance between traditional sectors and sunrise industries in his first cabinet briefing.
More than 5000 jobs for IT professionals, immediate disbursal of welfare pensions and landholding rights to tribals were a few decisions taken at the first meeting of Kerala’s twentieth cabinet.
VS, who has a largely rural constituency behind him, kept his word to the families of farmers who had committed suicide, by writing off their agricultural loans. “We will call a meeting of heads of financial institutions and ask them to be more sympathetic towards farmers who have taken loans from them,” he told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.
The former opposition leader, who was a bitter critic of the previous government’s Smart City project, vowed to be more pragmatic in IT sector. “The claim was to create 5000 jobs in the next five years through Smart City. My government will create at least 5000 jobs in this sector in one year,” he said.
