Kerala govt gives 70 acres of land free of cost for IIT Palakkad

The state government will hand over 70 acres of land for setting up the permanent campus of IIT

Kerala government on Wednesday decided to hand over 70 acres of land at zero cost in Palakkad district for setting up the permanent campus of Indian Institute of Technology.

A cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram decided to assign 70.02 acres at Pithiest west village in the district, an official release said.

The land would be given free of cost for the IIT, which is now functioning in a temporary campus.

The cabinet also decided to stop all the revenue recovery proceedings on loans taken by farmers from various financial institutions till May 31, 2017.

The moratorium was announced in the wake of a severe financial crisis faced by farmers in the state.

The cabinet also issued notification for the formation of the Kerala Devaswom Recruitment Board, a common recruitment board for appointments in Devaswom Boards, which manage a majority of Hindu shrines and aided institutions.

M Rajagopalan Nair would be the chairperson and GS Shylamani and PC Raveendranath the members of the Board, the release added.