Kerala's Life Mission a shot in the arm for country's housing dreams: Guv Khan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The completion of over 3.2 lakh houses under the Livelihood Inclusion and Financial Empowerment (LIFE) Scheme of the Kerala Government is a shot in the arm for India’s dream to provide housing to over one crore people through the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and related schemes, said Governor Arif Mohammed Khan.

Khan was delivering the Republic Day address at the Central Stadium here on Thursday.

"Kerala has drawn inspiration from India’s rise as the third largest Start up ecosystem in the world and the Kerala StartUp Mission has been recognized in the Global StartUp Ecosystem Report-2022 as Asia's leading performer," he said.

"The NITI Aayog Baseline Report about Kerala recording the lowest multidimensional poverty in the country, the third position in terms of employability of the youth as per India Skills Report 2022 and the appreciation received for Innovation Index and social security measures acknowledge the good performance of the State," he said.

According to Khan, instead of 'fight for survival', India now guides the world with the mantra of ‘act in unison’ in tackling global issues like climate change, terrorism, and pandemics. The spirit of Atmanirbharta or self-reliance enabled India to confidently tide over the Covid-19 pandemic by ramping up health infrastructure, producing medicines and vaccines and making them accessible and available to 220 crore people, he said.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called for protecting the freedom for all citizens to freedom of speech and worship. "The country should rise as a model democracy that ensures the individual's dignity and unity and integrity of the country. Constitutional values are to be protected to ensure India remains a sovereign, socialist and secular republic." he said.