Pension of freedom fighters increased

The Chief Minister said that it has come to the government's notice that students from Scheduled Tribe were not getting admission for the allotted quota for MBBS and BDS courses under the existing guidelines.

The Kerala cabinet on Wednesday decided to increase the pension of freedom fighters from Rs 3,900 to Rs 6,400, Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan said in Kerala.

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The new pension would come into force from this month onwards, Achuthanandan told reporters after cabinet meeting. The cabinet decided to liberalise the admission norms of Scheduled Tribe students for MBBS and BDS courses in the state, he said.

The Chief Minister said that it has come to the government's notice that students from Scheduled Tribe were not getting admission for the allotted quota for MBBS and BDS courses under the existing guidelines.

So the government decided to liberalise admission guidelines to ensure that Scheduled Tribe students got admission to these courses for the allotted quota, he said.

It also decided to formulate a comprehensive programme to increase agriculture production. A special cabinet meeting wou ld be held on April 22 to finalise the progrmame, he added.