UDF keen to give more powers to local bodies

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When there are many people who cannot live with dignity and who have no one to support, those in public life have no right to speak about democracy or claim privileges and rights, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said here on Friday.He was inaugurating a two-day workshop for Congress members heading the three-tier local bodies organised by the KPCC.Calling upon the local bodies to make the best use of  Aasraya scheme and other initiatives to improve the lives of  the people and expedite development, Chandy warned that the government would not hesitate to hold back the funds of those local bodies which were not utilising it properly.Chandy said that the UDF Government was keen to provide more powers and funds to the local bodies for the accelerated growth of the state. The people should benefit from the policies in a more useful manner, he said and pointed out that work related to the framing of  the 12th  Five Year Plan was under way.The Chief Minister told the office-bearers that steps should taken for holding grama sabhas as per schedule to get an idea of developmental needs and prevent misuse of  various schemes.He asked the local bodies heads to ensure that the proposed Rs 1-per-kg rice scheme meant for BPL families was not going to the wrong hands.Chandy said that the solatium for the people’s representatives in local bodies would be hiked by Rs 1,000 per month shortly.Senior Congress leader V M Sudheeran said that the main problems faced by the local bodies were that the funds were getting lapsed and projects were being implemented in a haphazard way in the last month of  every fiscal.  “This should not be allowed to continue. The new government has been able to secure Rs 12,000 crore as the state’s share for the 12th Five Year Plan, which is Rs 900 crore more than that of the 11th Plan period. Out of this, the local bodies will get Rs 2,574 crore. Proper planning is needed for  the time-bound implementation of  projects under the local bodies,’’ he said. Rural Development Minister K C Joseph said that the government wanted to open a new chapter in the state’s development through the three-tier local bodies.Kerala is a state where only Rs 900 crore came through the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) scheme last year and even a sizeable chunk of it got lapsed.