A Kerala Congress delegation met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, requesting a special package of ₹1,000 crore to ensure a minimum support price of ₹250 per kg for natural rubber.
The petition was submitted by a team led by Kerala Congress Deputy Chairman Francis George, MP, when the Minister visited Valavoor near here to attend the convocation ceremony at IIIT Kottayam. Noting that the Centre had collected ₹7,575 crore in import duty on rubber between 2019 and 2023, they said that allocating ₹1,000 crore from these funds could help stabilise rubber prices at ₹250 per kg and prevent rubber farmers from abandoning the sector.
ASHA workers’ pay
The delegation also urged the Minister to convert the viability gap funding allocated to the Vizhinjam port from a loan to a grant. They also sought an increase in the Union government’s share of salaries for ASHA workers.
Another key demand raised during the was the establishment of a Jackfruit Board to promote the processing of jackfruit, a crop widely grown in Kerala. Given its nutritional and medicinal benefits, the board could facilitate the production of value-added jackfruit products, they pointed out.
