Basking in the glory of recent victory in the local body election, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced a 10-point welfare programme on the New Year day.
These programmes include government services at the doorsteps of the aged and the physically challenged, an online portal to raise issues related to corruption and a digital awareness programme to enlighten people about advantages and disadvantages of social media.
“The Left Democratic Front government is committed to improving the living conditions of people. These measures will be implemented in a time-bound manner,” said the CM. He has also announced Rs one lakh scholarship to 1000 bright and needy students. Talking about the portal against corruption, he said, details of persons who file such complaints will be kept confidential and there will be separate authority for follow-up and subsequent investigation.
The government has also decided to open cinema theatres in the state from Jan 5 after 9-months long closure. Theatres will be allowed to admit only half of the capacity and Covid-19 protocol like maintenance of social distancing, wearing facemasks and hand hygiene will be followed.
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Similarly, temple festivals and other art festivals will be allowed but participants’ numbers will be restricted to 200 for outdoor events and 100 for indoor events.
The CM said this will alleviate the suffering of artists. Many drama, orchestra, DJ and dance artists were wallowing in penury due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The government has also reduced rates of Covid-19 tests. As per the revised rate, RT-PCR and TrueNat tests will cost Rs 1500, GenXpert test will cost 2500 and rapid antigen test will cost Rs 300.
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