Thaindian News

Thiruvananthapuram, May 31 (IANS) The Congress Monday quizzed the Left government in Kerala on the Vision 2010 programme presented by former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in the state assembly five years ago.
Oommen Chandy, who was the chief minister when Kalam made his presentation in the assembly in 2005, said his government had prepared projects worth Rs.13,459 crore for the state.

“We just had eight months and in that period we set up five task forces and the allocation for the projects was 16 percent from state government, six percent from the central government and rest from private participation including financial institutions,” Chandy told reporters here.

“We wish to know what happened to Kalam’s projects? On the fourth anniversary of this Left government, all what they have done is spend huge amounts in advertisements,” Chandy alleged.

Kalam in his nearly one-hour long speech urged the state government to identify its core competencies and adopt 10 missions.

These included development of tourism, inland waterways and deep-sea fishing, training nurses and paramedics to meet the rising demand at national and global levels and setting up of exclusive economic zones to attract investors.

Kalam said he was confident that Kerala’s per capita income could be increased from the existing Rs.23,000 a year to Rs.50,000 in three years and also to create an investment-friendly climate leading to new avenues for 3.7 million educated unemployed youth.