Regional review meetings to be convened by the Chief Minister and Ministers

Chief Minister and ministers are directly going to various districts to facilitate sharing of accomplishments of government and to ensure time-bound execution of various projects. Regional level review meetings will be held under the leadership of the Chief Minister and ministers on 4th. 7th, 11th , and 14th September 2023 in Kozhikode, Thrissur, Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram respectively, to resolve various issues at district level and to expedite development. This will be followed by meeting of police officers convened by the Chief Minister.
The list of issues to be considered at the regional level review meetings will be prepared by the district collectors before 30th June.
The following matters will be considered in the first phase:-
Progress of the infrastructure development projects
Status, analysis and suggestion about welfare projects and schemes
Central schemes (progress, reasons for discontinuance, if any and reasons there of;
and suggestions to resolve it, delay in implementation, if any, status and suggestion to resolve it.)
Specific issues at district level
Progress in acquisition of land for various central and state projects (National Highway development, Hill/Coastal Highways, National Waterway, Bypasses, Ring roads, Over-bridges)
Issues faced by public institutions in the district (Government schools, Public Health Centres, hospitals, anganwadis, civil stations etc)
The status, implementation and progress of various projects implemented under the four missions of the government
Status of LIFE and Punargeaham projects
Hill / Coastal Highway
National Waterways
The district collector will be organising a workshop with the participation of the concerned agencies to collate various issues being faced by the respective districts.

Second phase
The subjects to be considered in the review meetings will be divided into three as per the importance
a) Decision to be taken at government level and can be resolved by discussing with various departments
b) Issues to be resolved at district level in coordination with various department/agencies
c) Issues which doesn’t come under the above categories, which needs to be resolved as issues of common interest

Secretary level review
Issues selected by the district collectors will be examined/ reviewed by secretaries of respective departments and the issues will be divided into two parts – matters to be resolved at district level and matters to be resolved at the government level.

Third phase
The Chief Secretary and secretaries of various departments will be taking part in the review meetings scheduled for 4th to 14th September 2023, in the 3rd phase. In continuance to this, the final decision on the subjects will be taken in the regional review meetings in which the Chief Minister and ministers will be taking part. The government order about such decisions will be brought out within 48 hours.
A software will be developed to enable the submission of subjects collated at the district level by the district collectors, to enable the department secretaries to oversee and handover the proceedings to the concerned departments.

Time and venue of regional meetings
04/09/2023 – Kozhikode (Kasargode, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode districts)
07/09/2023 – Thrisur (Palakkad, Malappuram, Thrissur districts)
11/09/2023 – Ernakulam (Ernakulam, Idukki, Alappuzha, Kottayam districts)
14/09/2023 – Thiruvananthapuram (Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta districts)

Approval for the approach paper of 14th Plan
The cabinet has given approval to the approach paper to the 14th five year plan (2022-27).

Areas of thrust of the 14th five year plan:-
The 14th 5 year plan aims to transform various sectors of the economy and various sections of people into a modern society. Such a new culture with ample attention for science, technology as well as production oriented activities are inevitable for the sustainable, modern and democratic future. Higher education is one of the important among the priority sectors of Kerala.
The process of building Kerala will continue on the basis of the strength in the sectors such as public investment (especially in areas such as health, school education, and housing), social welfare, social justice and gender justice. Such strengths will be used to speed up growth of productive forces in the economy. The 14th Five year plan will make concerted efforts to ensure application of science, technology, modern skillsets and various skills available in the knowledge economy towards expediting the growth of agriculture & allied activities, modern industries, infrastructure development and income generation activities. The economic policy will be framed as per the requirements to ensure modernisation and quality enhancement of higher education so as to enable the youth from Kerala to tap the best employment opportunities offered by the modern economy.
The objective is to elevate the standard of living in Kerala in the next 25 years at par with the standards of advanced mid-level income countries. The process of development will be inclusive in nature. No one will be left behind on route to the journey towards development.

The main objectives of the 14th Five-Year Plan
1) to build on strengths in social investment (health, school education, and housing), social welfare, and social and gender justice;
2) to use the strengths of the State in human development to build a knowledge society and accelerate growth of the productive forces in the economy;
3) to apply science, technology and modern skills to enhance growth in agriculture, allied activities, modern industry, infrastructure development, and income-bearing services, including information technology, tourism, and retail trade;
4) to build a modern, high-employment, productive economy;
5) to modernise and enhance the system of higher education and provide Kerala‘s youth with the best forms of skilled employment available in a modern economy;
6) to end extreme poverty in Kerala;
7) to establish comprehensive and innovative systems of waste management;
8) to help Local Governments become engines of growth; and
9) to promote an inclusive development process — the guiding principle of the development process will be to leave no person behind.

Change in norms for appointments in sports quota
The differently abled athletes who had to take early retirement from sports due to injuries after attaining considerable achievements their respective sports items, including in achievements at junior level, will be considered for the vacancies reserved for appointments under sports quota. The norms of sports quota scheme will be amended to them to apply for such posts with necessary mandatory recommendations from a Medical Board. .

Appointments
Swatiprabha, the athlete who has won gold medal in the national level junior athletics will be given appointment in clerical post in the Sports Kerala Foundation under the department of Sports & Youth Affairs. She is one among the sportspersons, who had to retire from sports due to injuries sustained while taking part in a competition.

Approval for continuance in service was extended to 688 temporary employees working in various offices under the revenue department and Land Board office.

Sixty six cents of land of Kerala University will be taken for 15 years lease for the Raja Ravi Varma Center of Excellence for Visual Arts.

Permission was extended to John V. Samuel IAS to continue as Director, Groundwater department, Kerala for period of one year.

It was decided to resolve the anomalies occurred in the implementation of 11th pay revision in the Khadi Board.

Permission was accorded to buy 9 new vehicles for the department of Health.