By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on the Independence Day announced a series of welfare measures, among them free treatment for poor women and children in all government hospitals Thursday onwards.
“The entire treatment will be free and will include travel expenses to and from the hospital. Pregnancies and other ailments would be covered,” said Chandy while addressing the Independence Day parade here Wednesday.
He also said the Right to Services would become effective Nov 1 where select services such as issuing of certificates would have to be provided within a specified time period.
Also, from the next fiscal, all social pensions will be credited to the bank account of the person concerned, Chandy said.
In six months, all backlog vacancies for the physically challenged, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes would be filled, he said.
“My government will see that all have a home and access to clean drinking water,” he said.
“Through two new schemes my government has launched, an estimated four lakh unemployed youths will be able to stand up on their feet through self-employment programmes,” Chandy said.
He said Kerala, which is dependant on eggs and milk from other states, would be able to meet its requirements through increased production.
“We are also confident that we will be able to change the quality of education here through state-of-the-art institutions,” said Chandy.
He also said that anyone taking the law into his or her hands would be dealt with seriously.