|
Related Article |
|
Half of remittances from Gulf nations went to
India
A total of $29.69 billion was sent as remittances by Indian
expatriates living in the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
states in 2012, the arabianbusiness.com reported Monday citing the
World Bank's Migration and
»
|
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala is working out a perspective plan for its economy so that
the state will rely less on the remittances from the diaspora and
more on its resources.
"The perspective plan aims to target by 2030 the annual per capita
income, which currently stands at $4.700, touches $19,000. And in
2040, it would climb to $36,000," State Planning Board chief K.M.
Chandrasekhar said while unveiling the draft of the plan at an
interaction with the media here Monday.
He said today 77 percent of the growth in the state is achieved
from sectors like construction, real estate and is driven with the
help of remittances, which constitute almost 20 percent followed
by tourism revenues.
"If there is a fall in the remittances due to various reasons,
then it does not augur well. Hence it's all the more important
that we have to look elsewhere for finding new channels of
development and hence this plan is of utmost importance. The
technical assistance to the plan that's being worked out is being
provided by the Delhi-based NCAER.
"We are trying to benchmark our development objective based on
countries like Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, where top
priority is given to social security," said Chandrasekhar, who is
a former cabinet secretary of India.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the plan had been discussed with
some sections of the society and soon it would be put up on the
website for more people to have a look.
"We are doing this exercise to benefit the younger generation of
the state who will come of age after 2030. We want to change the
mindset of the youth and in the years to come what we want is that
people from here need not have to go looking for work outside the
state, instead provide them jobs here itself," said Chandy who is
celebrating the second anniversary of his government on May 18.
For more than three decades, Kerala's economy was dependant on the
remittances from the diaspora, receiving a record Rs.50,000 crore
from the non-residents, more than 90 per cent of whom work in the
Middle East.
In recent days, Saudi Arabia's push to get businesses in the
country to employ more of its citizens has sent tremors through
the thriving "remittance economy" of Kerala. It also has caused a
small wave of what might be called distress migration from Saudi
Arabia.
Chnady pointed out that from June onwards every Wednesday there
would be the routine cabinet meeting and on Thursday there will be
a special cabinet meeting. "In the special cabinet meeting, the
agenda would be finalised one month before and we will discuss
issues threadbare with all concerned and this is being done to
speed up the implementation process in areas where immediate
attention is needed."
He also said that the focus in the third year would be to provide
world class healthcare to the people. "What we want is to see that
Right to Health gets implemented. We wish to give the best
available treatment to the people," added Chandy.
|
Comments
|
Quick links