THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday urged people to reaffirm their commitment to the values of unity, democracy, secularism and scientific thought. All people should put in their best to achieve the goal of Nava Keralam, he said at the Independence Day celebrations in the capital on Tuesday.
"Nava Keralam can be achieved by enhancing the state's achievements in different sectors. The government is taking steps to eradicate absolute poverty. 64,006 families were earlier identified as in the extreme poverty category. The government has issued the documents they lacked. Micro-plans have been formed for uplifting them. Coordinated efforts of various departments are being conducted to eradicate absolute poverty by 2025", he said.
The GSDP of the state rose from 5.6 lakh crore in 2016 to 10.17 lakh crore this year. The per capita income rose from Rs 1.48 lakh to Rs 2.28 lakh, an increase of 54 per cent. The state's liabilities which were 39 per cent of the GSDP are now below 35 per cent. The CM attributed the economic growth to the development projects.
He also said that the Year of Enterprises programme was aimed at starting one lakh new enterprises. But the target was exceeded in eight months. A total of 1.40 lakh enterprises were started. Together they had an investment of Rs 8300 crore and created about three lakh jobs. The Mission Thousand programme of focused development of 1000 enterprises is now progressing.
IT exports in the past seven years were worth Rs 85,540 crore. The sector saw investment worth Rs 7304 crore and 62,000 new jobs during the period. The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board is implementing development projects worth Rs 81,000 crore between 2016 and 2023. Four lakh houses were built under the Life Mission housing programme. Title deeds were distributed to three lakh families. 3.50 rations cards were issued to people in the priority category, he said.