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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEBRUARY 20: Unusual things are

happening in God's Own

Country. Shedding the veil of ideological inhibitions,

the Marxist-led

government in the state is joining hands with a

spiritual leader to launch a

Rs 250-crore `Holistic Health Village.' The co-authors

of this unique

experiment are Suseela Gopalan, CPM leader and

minister for industries, Matha

Amrithanandamayi, renowned spiritual leader and head

of Amrithanandamayi

Ashram at Vallikkavu, and Jiji Thomson, an IAS officer

who heads the Kerala

State Industries Development Corporation (KSIDC).

The village will be at the 308-acre growth centre of

KSIDC, 30km north of

Kozhikode. It promises to be the first of its kind, an

international centre

of excellence providing treatment, research, education

and training in

various complimentary and alternative medical systems.

 

So you'll have a one-stop centre for allopathy,

ayurveda, homoeopathy,

Chinese medicines, juice therapy, nutritional therapy,

naturopathy,

acupuncture, faith healing, yoga, unani, music

therapy, energy therapy,

Tibetan medicines, Siddha, magnetic field therapy,

applied Kinesiology, aroma

therapy, chelatou therapy, colon therapy, flower

remedies, light therapy,

laser therapy, hydro therapy and iridology. A

world-class meditation centre

would be another attraction of the village.

KSIDC board of directors cleared the project proposal

at its meeting on

January 30. The industries minister has given the

`in-principle' clearance.

She has reportedly also secured the green signal from

her party to go ahead.

Matha Amrithanandamayi, called Amma by her devotees

across the world, has

been impressed by the project. Thomson held a few

rounds of one-to-one

discussions with her at her ashram. A detailed

presentation on the project

was made before her on Thursday.

A core working group comprising representatives of

Matha Amrithanandamayi

Mutt and KSIDC will be set up to work out the

structure of the joint venture.

A new limited company would be floated by the Mutt for

the purpose. The Mutt

would hold 88 per cent (Rs 110 crore) of the equity

and Kerala

Government/KSIDC the rest 12 per cent (Rs 15 crore).

The capital will be term

loans from financial institutions and KSIDC.

Institutions like IDBI and some

public sector banks have come up with proposals to

chip in the entire loan

amount. The total annual revenue from the centre by

the fifth year is

projected at Rs 170 crore.

At the growth centre at Kinalur, 100 acres has already

been developed -- an

industrial tower block and an administrative building

with 6,000 sq metres of

built-up area. Basic infrastructure facilities

including power, roads, water

and drainage are ready. Within six months of signing

the agreement, the first

phase of the health village can start functioning.

Each discipline would be headed by experts,

particularly those from where

that branch of medicine had originated. For instance,

acupuncture division

would be headed by a Chinese expert. The Matha

Amrithanandamayi Mutt would

play a key role in sourcing this talent globally.

About 500 students are expected to undergo training

every year in the first

phase. The Village would create employment for 3,000

people directly and

thousands indirectly. The Village is also expected to

act as a magnet to

attract tourists.

The `industrial growth centre scheme' is a Central

Government-initiated

project for the industrialisation of backward

districts. With the general

slackness in the industrial sector, the ruling Left

Front Government had been

finding it difficult to market the growth centres --

till this idea came

along.

 

 

 

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