By P. Sreekumaran
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The carping critics of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government – the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – have ended up with egg on their faces, and are desperately running for cover to hide their acute embarrassment!
The proximate cause for their extreme discomfiture is the Kerala Government’s remarkable achievement in emerging as the country’s leader in two business-centric reforms and seven categories of citizen-centric reforms.
The rankings were announced by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry at the conference of State Industries Ministers held in New Delhi on Thursday, September 5, 2024.
Kerala Industries Minister P. Rajeeve received the Business Reforms Action Plan’22 (BRAP 22) award of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) from Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal at the conference.
Facilitating utility permits for business and paying taxes were the business-centric reforms in which Kerala emerged as the top performer in the country.
The citizen-centric reforms in which Kerala won the top position are: Online single window system; the process of issuing various certificates with ease provided by the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs); issuance of certificates by the Department of Revenue; providing utility permits, public distribution system(Department of Food and Civil Supplies); improvements in the transport sector and running employment exchanges.
The feedback conducted on the existing businesses in the State showed that Kerala secured more than 95 per cent positive responses in these nine reform areas.
The rankings handsomely acknowledge that Kerala has made great strides in “Ease of Doing Business”. The remarkable feat was achieved by creating an ecosystem that is conducive for a wide range of enterprises to thrive.
Kerala can also give itself a pat on the back for ensuring prompt delivery of services by upgrading the entire system by using cutting-edge technology that includes digital tools.
The State has also earned recognition from the Union Home Ministry itself for its success in curbing cyber crimes against children and women. The prize for this feat was announced in connection with the foundation day of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will give away the prize to Kerala Police chief Dervesh Sahib at a function to be held in the national capital on Wednesday, September 11, 2024.
Meanwhile, software exports from the Government Cyberpark in Kozhikode increased to Rs 121 crore during 2023-24, recording a 15 per cent growth compared to the previous fiscal year and a brilliant 40-fold rise over the last seven years. The IT exports earned the cyberparks Rs 105 crore in 2023-24, while the figure during 2016-17 was Rs 2.97 crore. IT exports steadily went up from Rs 3,01, 71, 390 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 8,10,97,095 the following year. The remarkable growth continued with exports touching Rs 14,76,10,856, Rs 26,16,48,299 in 2020-21 and Rs 55,70,13,911 in 2022-22. The success has been attributed to the significant contributions made by IT clients in the Middle East, US, Europe and East Asia.
According to Cyberpark CEO Susanth Kurunthil, the seven-storey Sahya Building on the 42.5-acre plot of the Cyberpark, established in 2009, has been fully occupied. Sahya, which has a built-up space of nearly three lakh square feet, at present, houses 82 companies with over 2,200 employees. Besides, the Cyberpark supports 22 nascent companies incubating under the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM).
As if all this was not enough, Kerala also emerged as the topper in Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) appointments in the country. For instance, the year 2023 saw as many as 34,110 appointments in the State. Out of this 11,921 belonged to the Other Backward Castes (OBC) category, while 2,673 were from Scheduled Castes (SCs), 2260 from Scheduled Tribes (STs) and 17,256 from the general and other categories. Appointments all over the country last year numbered 1,01,689. Of this, Kerala accounted for 34,110. Incidentally, Uttar Pradesh with a population of 23 crore registered only 4120 appointments!
Needless to say, Kerala’s performance stands out compared to that of other States. The appointments made by a few other States are: Tamil Nadu (12,645), Maharashtra (3949), Uttarakhand (4355), Andhra Pradesh (332), Assam (635), Chattisgarh (773), Bihar (3173) and Himachal Pradesh (1332).
Last but not the least, more than 20 Public Sector Units have turned the corner and started making profits now. Also, the PSUs which the Union Government wanted to sell were taken over by the LDF Government. The icing on the cake: Green signal for the Kochi-Bangalore Industrial corridor and the decision of a Gujarat-based company to invest Rs 850 crore in an industrial estate in Kasaragod district in Kerala.
The achievements constitute a stinging slap in the face of the Opposition parties. Kerala’s brilliant performance knocks the stuffing out of their malicious propaganda and misinformation campaign that Kerala has been, is and will continue to be a business-hostile State! A hard pill to swallow for these incorrigible critics of the LDF Government! Interestingly, two of the mainstream Malayalam dailies – Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhoomi – which lose no opportunity to criticise the LDF Government, wrote editorials the other day lavishing fulsome praise on the Pinarayi Government’s sterling performance. (IPA
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