00:00Mr. Chief Minister, I'm going to highlight another concern for the state which has to do with what, say, Hyderabad
00:07has achieved or Bengaluru or Chennai.
00:10These are seen as centres for IT, parks, massive investment which has been done in these cities.
00:19In Kerala, is there a plan of something of similar nature and why do you think Kerala has not really
00:24matched up?
00:25Sure, actually we started at the time of UDF government, the techno park in Trivantram, info park in Kuchin.
00:34Now we have a plan to expand all these parks and in Calicut there is a cyber park we have
00:42announced in the budget.
00:43And in the future in the technologies, we are going to start the semiconductor, we are inviting the semiconductor investments
00:53in the field of IT, AI and the global capability centres, data centres.
01:01We have declared all these things in our budget.
01:04Yet you have one of the highest youth unemployment in the country, Mr. Chief Minister.
01:09So taking off from what Maria is saying, I mean, how are you going to create jobs within Kerala for
01:16the young of Kerala?
01:17You are becoming a state of senior citizens.
01:19We have a very good plan.
01:21The first time in Kerala, a government is thinking about the demographic changes in Kerala.
01:27First time, nobody discussed so far.
01:30Our government is the first government is discussing about the demographic changes in Kerala.
01:36As you said rightly, the demographic dividend youngsters are becoming very thin.
01:42And the senior citizens number is increasing compared to the other states.
01:47So we are the first states.
01:51Now, we started a department for senior citizens.
01:54We are adopting the silver economy.
01:57This is not a welfare project.
01:59We are going to make more constructive, more creative, this community, this senior citizens.
02:06Of course, there is a care component is there.
02:10We are going to start the caregiver's course and we are going to integrate the palliative, caregiver, everything for the
02:19senior citizens.
02:20At the same time, we have to make them more constructive.
02:24We have declared many plans.
02:27For the youngsters, for the youngsters, the problem is now we have a very good talent pool that we are
02:35showcasing to the entire world.
02:37You will get an electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, civil engineer, IT expert, or a management expert, each and every village
02:49from Kerala.
02:50Yes, but they all want to leave Kerala and find jobs outside.
02:54Correct.
02:54My limited point, Mr. Chief Minister, is Kerala has to decide whether they want to take advantage of your demographic
03:01dividend or will it turn into a disaster.
03:03The reason I am saying, look at Chandra Babu Naidu.
03:06Mr. Naidu is actually openly saying people should have more children because you have reached zero replacement level in Andhra.
03:14Here you have gone below zero replacement level.
03:16So there are not enough young people and the young people who are there are slowly migrating outside, not living
03:23in Kerala.
03:23Do you support what Chandra Babu Naidu says?
03:25Do you want Keralites to have more children?
03:27I am not requesting the Kerala people to have more children, but we will take measures to prevent these type
03:37of brain drain.
03:38You admit it's a problem.
03:40Kerala's brain drain is a problem.
03:42Yes, there is a problem of brain drain, serious problem.
03:45And we learned about that.
03:48Now we have declared a global job watch tower.
03:51It's very interesting.
03:53The nature of jobs have been changing very fast.
03:57So we have appointed in 12 sectors the experts.
04:03They are observing what is happening in each job sector.
04:07They will report to the government.
04:09Corresponding to their report, we are restructuring the entire curriculum and we are going to start new academic programs.
04:19We have declared a knowledge valley.
04:21We are inviting legacy universities and good academic programs.
04:26Our plan, our plan and our dream is to make Kerala to an education, higher education destination.
04:34Now we are going to amend our University Act everything.
04:38Next month, there is a low reforms legislation will be there.
04:43And for the investments, yesterday's cabinet, there was a revolutionary decision was taken for single approval.
04:52For single approval.
04:54We are going to amend 19 legislations in Kerala to give one approval, one door in one meeting.
05:04Kerala has the highest literacy rate.
05:07That is the fact.
05:08But yet what we see is in terms of education and job, as you said, that there is a visible
05:14mismatch.
05:15And that is the reason why most people tend to leave the state.
05:19Brain drain, as you have accepted, is the biggest issue.
05:22Is there a rethink within the state, in your government, that the entire curriculum has to change, that it has
05:30to live up to what the job requirements are?
05:34I agree with you, these are happening, but we have to take measures, because almost all the academic programs are
05:44outdated.
05:45That is why these youngsters are going out.
05:49They will study here itself.
05:51We are going to change the academic programs according to the job nature across the world.
05:58We are going to change it.
05:59We have started our work.
06:02Within these 100 days, we have already started.
06:04The higher education department has already started that work to restructure the entire curriculum and major programs.
06:12In all our projects, we are planning the academic programs also.
06:18For example, the Port City program.
06:20We are going to start the maritime law academic program, logistics, and many things.
06:26And artificial intelligence also.
06:28We are going to start many academic programs.
06:32We are preparing the syllabus for that.
06:34You know, listening to you, I almost feel as if you were positioning yourself as Kerala's Manmohan Singh.
06:401991 moment, you want to reform the state.
06:43This is a reform moment from what I am hearing, that you want to change the whole perception that the
06:48state will drive Kerala into private-public partnerships.
06:52Two, one point comes from that.
06:55One is you keep using the word port that you want to develop Kerala as an, what is it, Samudra?
07:02Mission Samudra.
07:03Mission Samudra.
07:04You want to build it through this sea.
07:06We are in Trivandrum, Tiruvananthapuram.
07:09Biggest port coming up here, who is doing it?
07:12The Adanis.
07:13Your leadership in Delhi opposes the Adani.
07:17Here in Kerala, I am told you are close to the Adanis.
07:20That you are willing to go the extra mile to allow them to increase their investments here.
07:25Make sense of that.
07:27They control the airport.
07:28They control the port.
07:30In Delhi, Rahul Gandhi opposes the Adanis.
07:32Every time he gets an opportunity, he says the BJP is promoting the Adanis.
07:36How are you that different from the BJP?
07:39They are promoting Adanis in their state.
07:41You are promoting them here.
07:43You need them for the ports.
07:44The first sentence, you said to me that the 91 position.
07:50Yes.
07:51Our planning board vice chairman is the former cabinet secretary.
07:55In the first planning board meeting, he told me that your position is the 91's, Dr. Manmoun Singh's position.
08:04You have to change all these things.
08:07You have to deviate from the conventional practices.
08:11And you have to take new reforms and many things in Kerala.
08:16I agree with that.
08:17This is a responsibility.
08:19I am not, I think that this is late.
08:22But it is not too late.
08:24This is the right time.
08:26Now we are thinking that if we are failing, if we are failing,
08:32the Kerala will be in trouble, in trouble in the future.
08:38And second thing about the Adani port, I have not given the Adani airport to Adani.
08:46That is the part of the central government policies.
08:50They have taken the Trivandrum port.
08:52At the time of Umbanjandiji, there was a concession agreement with the Adani ports about the Trivandrum Virinjam port.
09:02It was before 12 years back, 12 years back, 12 or 13 years back.
09:09Now they are the concessionaires.
09:13The owner of the port is the state government.
09:16Owner of the port.
09:17They are the concessionaires.
09:19There is a concession agreement, is that.
09:23And the owner of the port is the state government.
09:26We have to promote the port.
09:28While we are the owner of the port, why should we disturb the activities in the port?
09:33We are the owners.
09:36We have to promote all the activities, keeping the interest of the state.
09:41No, so why not openly say that we encourage, whether it's Adani's or anyone else, what's the harm?
09:46That's my point.
09:48If you are encouraging industrialization, for example, on the proposed sale of a 49% stake in the Adani airport
09:54to a Geneva-based Mediterranean shipping company,
09:57you told the state assembly, government has not even been informed about this.
10:01It's almost as if, and the left said, how can you not be informed?
10:04My point is, why not openly say we welcome private investment?
10:07Just as Manmohan Singh said in 1991, we want foreign investment.
10:11Why not say, whether it's Adani or anyone else, they can come in?
10:14Why the double standards say one thing in Delhi and one thing in Tiruvannantapura?
10:19I have already told you that we are the owner of the port.
10:24Without knowing the owner, how can they send a proposal to the Stock Exchange Board of India?
10:32Then they agreed that it was a wrong thing from their side.
10:37Then I appointed, our cabinet appointed a committee to study these things.
10:42First of all, they have to get sanctions, strategic sanctions from the Home Office, MHA.
10:50Then only, we have to think about that.
10:52There is a clear provision that, with the prior approval of the owner, that is the state government,
10:59they can sell their shares to other companies.
11:04And there is a provision in the concession agreement.
11:08According to the provisions of the concession agreement, we will go for that.
11:12We will go for that.
11:14We will take a decision after completing the entire formalities.
11:19But you are not, I mean, you are not anti-Adani.
11:21That's all I want to know.
11:22The problem is that they are the concessionaire.
11:26We are the owners.
11:28How can we fight each other in the port?
11:30But we will do one thing.
11:32We will do one thing.
11:34We will protect the interest of the state.
11:37We will never compromise with the interest of the state.
11:40We will give all support to them.
11:43Because when it is improving, we will get a connection.
11:47We will arrange all the compliances in the concession agreement, the road connectivity, rail connectivity, everything.
11:55We have decided to give 3,200 course for the share, central state share, our state share for the ring
12:03road.
12:04The road connectivity, the rail connectivity, we will do all these things for the interest of the state.
12:10Okay.
12:11So when you say the interest of the states, it is about any kind of investor the state is open.
12:17Pardon?
12:18Any investor the state is open to welcome?
12:21That there should be a procedure.
12:23There are so many investors are coming.
12:25In some areas, we need some transparent procedures, the expression of interest and other things.
12:33There should be transparent procedure to select the right person who is investing there.
12:39But we are giving more opportunities.
12:42Now, our industries department directed to our agencies to acquire maximum land in Trivandrum, Kuchin and Calicut.
12:52We need land for investments.
12:55And we have started a work to an asset mapping registry for the lands across Kerala.
13:03Okay.
13:04Shibbi.
13:05See, when you were in opposition, as an opposition leader, you had made a lot of political statements.
13:09Like, you know, we won't implement PMshree if we come to power.
13:12You also made statements like the left is borrowing again and again and putting the state into debt.
13:17You are in power.
13:18You are doing the same thing.
13:19You are implementing the PMshree scheme.
13:21We are almost touching the borrowing limit.
13:23The left is saying that it's easy to say things when you are in opposition.
13:25Could you please show me any statement by me against the PMshree?
13:32Only one time.
13:34That is that last government was against PMshree.
13:39They openly said that we are not going to join the PMshree.
13:44Am I right?
13:44One fine morning, without informing the cabinet, the members of the cabinet, they entered into an agreement, MOU, the last
13:58government, the Panrahi government, with the Srinya government.
14:02Then I asked, you have been saying that you will never join with the PMshree.
14:09But one fine morning, without knowing the cabinet, you join.
14:13Why?
14:13What happened?
14:15Then he appointed a committee, a cabinet subcommittee.
14:19When our government came, when we studied, the MOU, there is no provision to withdraw from the PMshree.
14:30Only the central government can withdraw from the agreement.
14:34Then we appointed a cabinet subcommittee.
14:36We have taken, we never joined in the PMshree.
14:40That position, I'll tell you, that position, which was taken by the last government, is continuing.
14:49Then we said one thing.
14:51We won't allow, that is our political position.
14:54We won't allow the central government to involve in the curriculum.
14:59That we will design.
15:01Then the selection of schools will be done by the state government.
15:06Only this condition, we will allow to join the PMshree.
15:10We won't allow further.
15:10Then we wrote it.
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