Govt okays Rs 25 lakh aid to family of Dr Vandana

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The cabinet, on Wednesday, decided to provide financial relief to the families of Dr Vandana Das and fire and rescue officer JS Ranjith, who lost their lives while they were on duty. The government will provide a financial relief of Rs 25 lakh each to their families.
While Dr Das was murdered by a patient, who was brought to the hospital by the police for medical examination, while she was on duty at Kottarakkara taluk hospital, Ranjith lost his life while trying to douse a fire that engulfed the warehouse of Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd (KMSCL) last week.
While the assistance for the family of Dr Das will be provided from the chief minister's distress relief fund, the same for Ranjith's family will be met from the funds of KMSCL.
The cabinet also decided to provide a sum of Rs 10 lakh to the wife of SR Rajesh Kumar, an official with Kerala Water Authority (KWA). Kumar lost his life in an accident at his work site at KWA's Kaduthuruthy sub-division where he was working as a pump operator.
Sign language interpreters:
The cabinet decided to engage the services of sign language interpreters at major government functions. Their services will be utilized in events in which the governor, the chief minister and other ministers are participating. The decision was taken in the wake of several people requiring such services participating in such events. The cabinet decided to provide an honorarium of Rs 1,000/hour to experts for their services.
Trawling ban:
The cabinet decided to impose a trawling ban on the state's coast for 52 days from June 9 midnight till July 31 midnight.Kerala awards:
The cabinet decided to make changes in the guidelines for Kerala awards instituted by the state government along the lines of Padma awards. As per new guidelines, those who were awarded Padma Awards will not be considered for Kerala awards. Citizens from other states, who have been residing in state for the last 10 years, will be considered for Kerala awards.Amendments in estate scheme:
As part of making rules more liberal for launching private industrial estates, government decided to amend the private industrial estate scheme 2022.Tenure extended:
Government decided to extend the tenure of state police complaints committee chairman VK Mohanan by three more years from May 31, 2023.