Kerala to welcome domestic tourists from September

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran said the state would welcome domestic tourists from September with restrictions. He also announced a Rs 455 crore loan scheme to support the tourism sector affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme known as the Chief Minister’s special tourism loan fund will benefit both entrepreneurs and workers in the sector. Entrepreneurs in the sector can avail a loan up to Rs 25 lakh while the small ventures can avail up to Rs 3 lakh. The tourism department will offer 50 per cent subsidy for the first year of the loan term. The workers will get Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 as a soft loan from Kerala Bank. There will not be repayment for the first six months, said the minister. The minister also said that a Rs 100 crore project with Kerala Bank for the sector was in the preparatory stage. Surendran said the former principal secretary to the Chief Minister, M Sivasankar, could not fulfil the trust reposed on him by the Chief Minister. “He was appointed for his calibre and was kept away when the Chief Minister came to know about his activities,” said the tourism minister. He said the UDF and BJP were acting like Siamese twins to unleash rumours against the government. The Leader of Opposition is acting like a new version of Goebbels, said Surendran. He denied that the government had any role in the alleged commission payment to Swapna Suresh, accused in the gold smuggling case, for the construction of a Life Mission project.