Thiruvanathapuram, September 17: The State Cabinet on Wednesday announced the constitution of the fourth Finance Commission to recommend devolution of funds to local self-government institutions.
Briefing the decisions of the weekly Cabinet meeting here, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said economist M.A. Oommen would chair the Commission. Principal Secretary (Local Self-Government) S.M. Vijayanand and Finance Secretary (Expenditure) Ishita Roy would be its members.
The Commission would review the finances of the local bodies in the State and recommend measures to improve their financial position.
The Cabinet decided to implement the Rashtriya Madhyamic Siksha Abhiyan, funded by the Centre, in the State. The Scheme was aimed at improving the quality of secondary education and ensuring equality of opportunities to students.
The Chief Minister announced that the Agency for Non-conventional Energy and Rural Development (Anert) would be reconstituted to improve its efficiency and enable it to implement the ‘total energy mission’ in a manner beneficial to the people.
Awards
Awards would be instituted for the best surgeon, farm officer and livestock inspector in the Animal Husbandry Department on the lines of the awards given by the Health Department to its staff. The awards for surgeon and farm officer would carry a purse of Rs.10,000 while that for the livestock inspector, Rs.5,000.
Mr. Achuthanandan said the State would request the Centre to issue a coin and a stamp to commemorate the centenary of the exile of Swadeshabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai (from the erstwhile Travancore State).
Olympian Reeja Sreedharan, who had won medals at various levels, would be sanctioned Rs.10 lakh for building a house.
Postings
IAS officer U.K.S. Chauhan, who is returning from Central deputation, would be posted as Secretary in the General Administration Department. He would also hold charge of Secretary for Sports and Youth Affairs and Special Officer for National Games. Additional Chief Secretary P. Prabhakaran would get the charge of Finance. Transport Secretary T.K. Manoj Kumar would be given additional charge of Fisheries Secretary. Secretary (Ports) Sanjeev Kaushik would get additional charge of Director, Kerala State Transport Project, the Chief Minister said.
The services of A.K. Dharani would be made available to the Department of Cooperation for appointment as Director of the State Cooperative Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.
Replying to questions, the Chief Minister said that no decision had been made about the posting of former Director of the Bank K. Suresh Kumar who had been reinstated after suspension from service.
Mr. Achuthanandan said he could not respond to the demand for a CBI inquiry in the Paul Muthoot George murder case without consultations.
—Agencies