Amidst severe criticism and protest from the opposition members, Thiruvananthapuram District Panchayat president Ansajitha Russel passed the third budget of the UDF panchayat committee for the 2014-15 fiscal year on Tuesday. Envisaging an income of Rs 150.08 crore, expenditure of Rs 142.74 crore and a surplus of Rs 7.34 crore, the budget has given importance to sustainable self-dependence, agriculture, distribution of drinking water, health, education, cultural affairs, public works, public welfare and waste eradication.
Presenting the budget, vice-president of the District Panchayat Rufus Daniel said that as much as 70 per cent of the projects announced in the previous budget could be completed, which drew severe criticism from the opposition members.
In the agriculture sector, the District Panchayat will spend Rs 6.59 crore. Special funds have been set aside for the daily expenditure of various projects including the Peringamala district farm, Chettachal Jersey Farm, Valiyathura Coconut Nursery etc. As much as Rs 20 lakh has been earmarked for the promotion of family farming in connection with the International Year of Family Farming. However, no own funds have been set aside for the restoration works of the Vellayani lake except for the Rs 49.5 lakh given by the Department of Environment and Climate Change under the State Government. The vice-president, in his budget speech, added that the panchayat was ‘expecting’ a funding of Rs 26 crore for the works.
In the education sector, a fund of Rs 7.59 crore has been earmarked for various infrastructural projects and a couple of new programmes. However, most of the projects listed out in the budget were announced in the previous year, like the napkin-wending machine and destroyer and training programmes in the fisheries sector. For social security sector, Rs 2.83 crore has been set aside. For health sector, the amount is Rs 2.92 crore. However, the proposal to grant funds for the Neyyattinkara District Hospital, which received the National Upgradation Board for Hospital (NAHB) accreditation and was upgraded to a General Hospital, received severe criticism, citing that it is no longer under the district panchayat administration.
For poverty alleviation, the District Panchayat will spend its share on EMS Housing Scheme and Indira Awas Yojana. For the development of roads Rs 41.76 crore has been set aside. For SC/ST welfare, projects worth Rs 15 crore have been envisaged. Following a proposal made by the opposition, the panchayat president said that a project for drinking water in 78 schools in the district will be included in the budget and water purifiers will be installed in all the schools.
