Subsea Kuttanad craved for help but people’s representatives didn't care

Kottayam: The state lost the Kuttanad package due to the irresponsibility of the elected representatives of the region, according to Father Thomas Peelianikkal, executive director of Kuttanad Vikasana Samithi.

“They had failed to take timely follow-up action and inform the centre regarding the progress of the package,” he alleged.

He told Deccan Chronicle here on Tuesday that the Kuttanad Vikasana Samithi had come to know about the end of the package through an RTI application. But union minister of state Sanjeev Kumar Balyan had informed Mavelikkara MP Kodikunnil Suresh, in a reply in Parliament on July 15, that the package had ended in July 2012.

The Kuttanad package was introduced by the union government in 2008 on the basis of a scientific study by the M.S. Swaminathan research foundation following the state’s request to solve the agrarian crisis of the region. Though the package included Rs 1,840 crore, only Rs 382 crore was spent.

“Though the Kuttanad Vikasana Samithi frequently enquired about the progress of the package, Mr Kodikunnil Suresh said that he was taking follow-up steps. There was no mention about a fixed timeframe. There was no coordination between the state and the centre and no liaison officer was appointed in Delhi,” Father Peelianikkal added.

The state government should bring out a White Paper on the status of the package, he demanded. “The central government claims that the timeframe of the package ended in July 2012. We want to know its status to redress the worries of the people of the region,” he added. The state should ask the central government to extend the timeframe for another three years, he said.

An indefinite sathyagraha of farmers and agricultural labourers raising their concerns will be launched at Mankombu near Alappuzha on September 15, he added.