'Wrong' concept that Kerala is not investor-friendly: Chief Minister Vijayan

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday dismissed as "wrong" the concept that the state was not investor-friendly due to agitations like hartals.

The Chief Minister slammed "certain centres" engaged in spreading "wrong propaganda" that Kerala was not investor-friendly because of such agitations. He cited success stories of investors from within the state who emerged as successful by investing in Kerala. "Success stories of organisations like IBS Software company prove that such propaganda is wrong," he said after the ground-breaking ceremony of the company's new building at Infopark in Kochi.

Vijayan said though Kerala is a small state, government has allocated a big amount of Rs 300 crore for new investments like startups. The Chief Minister lamented that the new education system being followed in Kerala has resulted in creating a generation unaware of the ethos of the state and even the mother tongue--Malayalam. "There are highly educated people in the state who do not even know Malayalam letters written on boards displayed on buses plying between two destinations. This scenario should change," Vijayan said, emphasising the need to bring about a qualitative change in the education system.