KOCHI: Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that there is an effort to depict Kerala as an investor-unfriendly state and that a campaign was underway claiming that youths are leaving the state. Inaugurating the professional students' summit in Kochi on Saturday, he called upon students to take up the challenge to counter such false campaigns and assured them that the government will provide all support to those who come forward to convert innovative ideas to various ventures.
The government has taken serious note of the student's concerns stemming from the false campaign that there is an exodus of youths from Kerala as the state is not investor-friendly, Vijayan said, adding that the government's aim is to turn students into entrepreneurs and employment providers. He said the state will provide opportunities for students to upgrade their skills while studying and that facilities will be arranged to create such an atmosphere in the state.
Programmes like 'industry on campus' and 'young innovators' launched to accomplish this objective, he said. The government's aim, while charting out the new education policy, was to improve facilities in medical, engineering, and technology streams, he added.
He said it was in Kerala that India's first Technopark was started. The firm which produces the maximum number of dental implants in the country is in Kerala and there are firms in the state which produce medical equipment, the CM said.
Nissan, Tech Mahindra, Taurus, etc started units in Kerala, Vijayan said, adding that as part of the entrepreneurship year programme, 1,30,481 new ventures were started in 10 months. This pumped in around Rs 8,000 crore investment and generated 2,80,000 jobs in the state, he said. For research and development in science and technology, around Rs 3,500 crore has been earmarked in the Kerala budget, he added.
The knowledge imparted by universities and other educational institutions has to be useful for the development of society and has to bring about improvement in the standard of living and higher education, said minister R Bindu.
Youth Cong protestsMeanwhile, Youth Congress activists waved black flags at Vijayan twice at Kalamassery to mark their protest against the tax proposals and the Rs 2 fuel cess announced in the state budget.