Sampath to be appointed as special envoy of Kerala in Delhi

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government Thursday decided to appoint former Attingal MP A Sampath as the special envoy of the state in New Delhi.

The cabinet has decided to allot Sampath the rank of a minister for the rest of the tenure of the state government.

A government release said the appointment would come with the perks of a private secretary, two assistant private secretaries, one office attendant, and a driver.

The government has also decided to hold a high-level meeting in the wake of cold-shoulder shown by the Reserve Bankof India (RBI)even after the Agriculture minister had met its governor Shaktikanta Das pressing to extend the moratorium on Rs 80,800-crore plus farm loans to December end.

Around 80 lakh farmers have got a moratorium on repayments till July 31, which was given after the state suffered the worst deluge in over a century last August, which wiped out over 11 percent of the state's farmland.

While the loss to farmers from the deluge is pegged at Rs 18,545 crore, the overall damages are worth over Rs 35,000 crore.

The state will provide compensation of over Rs 58 lakh to 112 fishermen, who lost their livelihood in the 2017 Ockhi cyclone that hit the state coast.

The government has also appointed Rajesh Kumar Singh, who has completed his deputation from the Centre, as the Principal Secretary of the Tourism Department.

The cabinet has decided to create 20 Assistant Prison Officer-cum-Driver post in the Prisons and Correctional services department.