NEW DELHI: Almost one year and four months after the Kuttanad package was approved ‘in-principle' by the Union Cabinet, Kerala claims to have obtained yet another `in principle' approval - for tailor made cost-sharing for the projects. However, the meeting held on Monday would just be one among a series of meetings before the project actually takes off.
Discussions were held between Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran and Water Resources Minister N K Premachandran with Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and the ministry officials.
The state ministers claimed that they had been able to convince the Central Government the need for de-linking the existing Central norms on funding from the requirements of the state.
"We were able to convince the Centre about cost-sharing as the present central norms are not suitable for the State.
For example, though Rs 85 crore was approved for mechanisation, earlier the State was asked to bear 75 percent of the cost.
Now, the Centre has agreed to release the entire amount if the State Government takes up the mechanisation process", Mullakkara Ratnakaran told Express.
Unlike in the case of the Kochi Metro project, this time MPs from the state raised their voice together, seeking modification of the Central pattern of funding the project.
The Swaminathan Commission, in its report submitted to the Centre in August 2007, had recommended various schemes for Kuttanad at a total cost of Rs 1,750 crore. Other than reviving the area as the main agricultural hub, the recommendations included development of inland fisheries and water tourism in the area. Suggestions for the ecological protection of the area were also made by the Commission.
Kuttanad, a major part of which is in Alappuzha district, has its brim touching Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts.
After the `in-principle' approval from the Centre, the onus has been on the State Government to identify the activities to be undertaken and submit proposals after preparing Detailed Project Reports(DPR) to the Centre, in accordance with the approved guidelines and procedures for the release of necessary funds. The uncertainty over the costing of the project have been prevailing since then.