New Walayar check post to be inaugurated today

Chief minister V S Achuthanandan on Tuesday will inaugurate the new check post at Walayar in Palakkad district in a bid to check corruption on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border.

From enabling goods carriers with valid documents to complete the formalities and move on in about two hours, to technologically-boosting the operations, the initiative is expected to be emulated at other check posts at every entry point in Kerala.

The Walayar checkpost would also enable sending the details of the goods in transit to tax accounts of respective offices online. Right now, the scene is often one of serpentine queues of goods carriers awaiting clearance for long hours on either side of the check post.

To ensure that no corruption creeps in at a later stage, finance minister Thomas Isaac has said vehicle owners, trade organisations and people's representatives would be allowed a monthly social audit of the functioning of the check posts.

Among the new systems being deployed at the newly-improved system include the additional counters which will start functioning from Tuesday.

The number will now go up to 12 from six and the vehicles will be issued priority tokens. Trained personnel will ensure that there are no middlemen in the vicinity of check posts.