Kerala has demanded that the Centre increase wages for labourers working under national job guarantee schemes, considering the higher standards of living in the state, the Assembly here was informed Wednesday.
Kerala state in south India has already written to the Centre in this regard but is yet to receive a response, Local Administration Minister Paloli Muhammadkutty said told the Assembly during the Question hour.
He also said that action will be taken against panchayats if they permitted construction of houses on sites that are developed by filling up paddy fields.
The Government has enforced some stringent measures to check reclamation of paddy fields in view of its adverse fallout on environment and food security.
Over the decades, large stretches of paddy fields have been converted into cash crop gardens or real estate properties. Besides resulting in a sharp fall in rice production, the degradation of paddy fields has seriously harmed the wetland ecology across Kerala.