Kochi, Friday 19 June 2009: KV Thomas, Union Minister of State for Agriculture, has said that an agro exhibition in association with the State government will be held at the Agricultural Urban Wholesale Market at Maradu, constructed with assistance from the European Union (EU), during the forthcoming Onam season as part of efforts to revive it.

Talking at a reception accorded to him by the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) here, Mr. Thomas said that the scope for making it a permanent exhibition was being seriously considered.
Similar exhibitions will be held at the other two EU markets in Muvattupuzha and Thiruvananthapuram later, he said. The exhibition will feature the full range of agriculture produce from Kerala and the rest of the country.

Mr. Thomas said that he had held discussions with the Union Minister for External Affairs S.M. Krishna on the difficulties being faced by the people in the State in securing and renewing passports considering the fact that Kerala has one of the biggest expatriate communities.

The Minister said that he was hopeful of the State getting four additional passport offices. He, however, clarified that he was not the authorised person to make any declaration to that effect. He was also optimistic of Ernakulam receiving two passport offices, which he hoped, would put an end to the congestion being experienced at the Regional Passport Office at Kochi.

Mr. Thomas said that he had recently attended a meeting chaired by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan to discuss the various projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. He said that only technical difficulties were left in the implementation of the majority of projects and was confident of executing those projects by the set time limit of 2012.

Mr. Thomas said that the dispute between the FACT and the Warehousing Corporation on setting up a warehousing complex on 25 acres of land owned by the former had been resolved by reaching a formula to share the resultant profit equally. It is expected to generate an annual profit of Rs. 13 crore. Mr. Thomas offered to set up more such complexes in other parts of the State provided land was made available.

He reminded the audience that Kerala had never enjoyed a more favourable political atmosphere at the Centre with five Ministers representing it and urged everyone cutting across political lines to join hands for the larger interests of the State.

M.C. Josephine, Chairperson of GCDA, submitted to the Minister a detailed report on various GCDA projects.