Milk prices in Kerala to go up

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 9: Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan today said the State Cabinet has approved a proposal to hike the price of milk.

Briefing newspersons here, he said State Food and Civil Supplies Minister C Divakaran had been authorised to hold talks with those concerned to take an appropriate decision in this matter.

The Chief Minister said the Cabinet also decided to constitute a special engineering wing, headed by a Chief engineer, to exclusively handle the works of local bodies.

Mr Achuthanandan said the government would give about Rs one crore to the cooperative banks that had written off farm loans up to Rs one lakh for debt-ridden farmers, who had committed suicide.

Regarding the Mullaperiyar dam issue, he said a special team was deputed to analyse the situation and if a need arose, people in the low-lying areas would be shifted.

A proposal to construct a new dam to replace the 111-year-old dam was also being considered by the government.

UNI