KOCHI: Accusing the Union Government of obstructing foreign aid to Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the Union Government’s stance will be overcome by the help of the collective effort of Malayali community from around the globe.He was inaugurating the Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award distribution here on Monday.
“As per the figures of UN, a total of R31,000 crore is required to rebuild Kerala. However, we require even more fund than the UN’s estimate. The state has requested R4,000 crore as Central aid and R5,000 crore as special package.
Besides, we also urged the Centre to hike the limit of the loans. However, there is no assurance so far on how much amount will be allowed," the Chief Minister said.
Writer M Mukundan bagged the Sakthi T K Ramakrishnan award for his overall contributions to literature. P Krishnanunni (best novel), Ahmed Khan and Vinod Vysakhi (poetry), Subash Chandran (drama), G R Indugopan (short story), K N Ganesh (knowledge fiction), V P P Mustafa (literary criticism), K Rajendran (children's literature) and George Varghese (non-fiction) are the other winners. The Chief Minister also released a book authored by K V Ramachandran by handing over a copy to Cochin Shipyard Director N V Suresh Babu.