In yet another initiative to uplift the fishermen community in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday announced that the State Government will provide free education and job training to the children of fishermen who died or went missing during cyclone Ockhi last year. The CM took to Facebook, to announce the decision of the cabinet.    

“A sum of Rs 13.92 crore will be taken from the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund for this initiative, which has already begun. The beneficiaries of this project will receive a passbook issued by the bank, which has recorded the amount for education and job training,” said Pinarayi Vijayan in his Facebook post.

The CM went on to state that 194 students studying between lower kindergarten to professional colleges will receive the benefits of this scheme. In the statement, he has also mentioned that measures will also be taken to provide job training to the 124 persons from the fishermen families who have completed higher studies.

“For the students studying between LKG and class 5, Rs 10,000 per year will be provided, Rs 25,000 for students between class 6 to class 10, Rs 30,000 for students of class 11 and 12. The government is planning to provide Rs 1 lakh per year for students pursuing higher studies. The initiative is planned in such a way that this amount is made available to all students in the community. The initiative is valid till 2037,” said the Chief Minister.

This statement from Pinarayi Vijayan comes just two weeks after the Kerala Government handed over a newly constructed apartment complex in Muttathara to 192 fishing families, who lost their homes due to coastal erosion and rough sea in 2016.

Keeping its promise to the fishing families in the coastal areas of Valiyathura, Cheriyathura, Valiyathope and Kochuthope, the state government delivered the apartment complex named “Pratheeksha” (Hope) much before the promised time.