A commission headed by a judge will be appointed soon to review the contributory pension scheme for government employees, Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac has said. Replying to questions in the Assembly on Thursday, he said withdrawing the scheme introduced by the previous government was not easy and it would have serious ramifications.
Tax collection had not taken off as expected post-demonetisation. The government had set a target of 20% since it was imperative to fund the welfare schemes for different sections, he said.
Cooperation Minister Kadakampally Surendran said the Kerala Cooperative Bank was expected to come into being by Onam. The government had replied to all queries raised by the Reserve Bank of India for according permission to float the bank, he said.
The deposits in cooperative banks had increased from ₹1.50 lakh crore to ₹1.75 lakh crore post demonetisation. Against the 4,255 vacancies existing in cooperative banks, only 1,049 vacancies had been reported to the Cooperative Service Examination Board. Directions had been given to expedite vacancy reporting, he said.
In order to prevent indigent women from falling into the clutches of private moneylenders operating in the microfinance sector, the Cooperative Department would launch a new microfinance scheme, ‘Muttathe Mulla’ on June 26. The scheme would provide funds at 9% interest to woman beneficiaries, he said.
The terms of reference of the Justice Ramachandran Nair Commission probing the Vizhinjam port agreement had been amended as per the demand of the commission, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.