Cooperative sector banks play a key role in development: CM

KOCHI: Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan Saturday said Cooperative banks contributed a lot for the development of Kerala.

Speaking after inaugurating the new building of Edappally Service Cooperative Bank Limited he said this sector was in the forefront in the education, agriculture, industrial and health sector.

He said price rise was controlled to a certain extend in Kerala due to various efforts taken by of SupplyCo and Cooperative sector institutions.

Earlier, Achuthanandan also laid foundation stone for the new campus of National University of Advanced Legal Studies at the nearby Kalamassery.

For the renewal of libraries in the higher education sector institutions, government had earmarked Rs 30 crore in the budget, he said.

Government had initiated projects for upgrading infrastructure facilities in colleges and had earmarked a record Rs 121 crore in the budget for the higher education sector alone, he said.

The Central University which was allotted to Kerala has already started in Kasargod and land acquirement process was in progress for starting Aligarh University campus at Perinthalmanna, he said.

He said steps have already been taken for starting the Information and Communication Technology Institute at Thiruvananthapuram. The project cost is Rs 14 crore, he said.