From rxpgnews.com
Transfer of Kerala biotech facility to centre delayed
By IANS,
Jan 29, 2007 - 10:08:40 PM
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 29 - The transfer of the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology from the Kerala government to the central government has been delayed as an agreement between the two sides is yet be inked, an official said Monday.
Sheela Thomas, senior bureaucrat and secretary to Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, denied news reports Monday that the takeover would not take place due to the delay in inking the memorandum of understanding -.
'The correspondence between the state and the central government is still on for this to become a reality,' Thomas told IANS.
The efforts for the transfer of the institution to the central government began when A.K. Antony was chief minister and followed up by Oommen Chandy after he took over in August 2004.
In the union budget of 2006-7, Finance Minister P. Chidamabaram had set aside Rs.750 million for the centre.
Reports indicate that Achuthanandan in June last year had cleared the file and gave the nod for the takeover to be formalised, but two days later his office recalled the file and the matter has remained pending since then.
President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has been a strong supporter of the centre, currently an autonomous institution of the state government, and makes it a point to visit it whenever he visits the state capital.
Achuthanandan's daughter V.V. Asha works as a scientist in the centre.
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