Thursday, January 27 2005 15:46 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Thiruvananthapuram: Drawing lessons from the Tsunami tragedy, the Kerala Government planned to introduce an insurance scheme to help the next of kin of those killed in natural calamities and bring in legislation to set up a permanent Disaster Management Authority.

This was disclosed by Governor R L Bhatia in his policy address to the Kerala Assembly, in which he also unveiled many measures like marketing bill to ensure better price for farmers, smart cards for fisher-folk, an intellectual property rights policy and an exclusive village for parents of NRKs (Non Resident of Kerala).

The Government also proposed to double the IT industry capacity of the State, set up an integrated IT township at Kochi and extend e-Governance services to the grassroots level.

Seeking to make best use of the remaining one-year period of the UDF (United Democratic Front) Government, a 'fast forward' one-year action plan would be launched to ensure better delivery of services to the common people and make Kerala a front-ranking State.

In a policy shift, the Government decided to suspend the functioning of Enterprises Reforms Committee, set up to ease the burden cast by loss-making PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings).

In agriculture, the Government proposed an organic farming policy and export zone for spices. The LDF (Left Democratic Front) Opposition dubbed the Governor's address as 'disappointing' and a mere repetition of what had been said in the last four years. Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan said that there was no scheme for revival of PSUs and traditional industries.