The Hindu : Kerala News : Training for MLAs at KILA

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 08, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Training for MLAs at KILA

By Our Staff Reporter

THRISSUR, NOV. 7. The Speaker, Therambil Ramakrishnan, has announced that a training programme for MLAs on the various aspects of the decentralised governance will be conducted at the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) near here next year.

He was delivering the key-note address at the function organised at KILA today to distribute the certificates for the people's representatives who have undergone a six-month special training course there.

The Speaker said duration and other details of the training programme for MLAs, which will be the first of its kind in the country, would be worked out later in consultation with experts.

Emphasising the need for giving training to the people's representatives at various levels, the Speaker said the whole initiative for devolution of power and empowerment of the local bodies would end up as waste unless persistent and effective steps were taken for capacity building among the people's representatives.

Poverty eradication

The Minister for the Local Self-Government Institutions, K. Kutty Ahmed Kutty, who inaugurated the function, said poverty eradication and helping the sections who were getting marginalised due to the ongoing economic changes in the country, would be the top priority of the local bodies in the coming years. He said even though many laudable initiatives had been launched in the State for `assignment of power' to the people through the decentralisation programmes, they had not led to a sustainable overall development of the State.

The decentralisation did not lead to development of the agricultural and industrial sectors of the State at the expected pace.

Pointing out that serious debates were going on in academic circles about the sustainability of the `Kerala Model' of development, the Minister said the local bodies should be able to make substantial contribution in consolidating the gains made through that model of development, and to carry forward those achievements. Recalling that many powers and financial resources had been transferred to the local bodies in the State, the Minister said they must be able to evolve a long-term vision on the total development of the State and utilise the new powers and resources for realizing that vision.

The Minister suggested that KILA must also conduct a diploma course for the secretaries of the local bodies who had a key role to play in the successful conduct of the decentralised governance programmes.

The KILA Director, P.P. Balan, presided over the function. The president of the Block Panchayats' Association, K.K. Kochumuhammed, and the Sahithya Akademi secretary, P.V. Krishnan Nair, were among those who spoke on the occasion.

The Minister distributed the certificates to 34 people's representatives who had successfully completed the course. The Speaker presented the prizes to the top scorers in the course. This was the second batch of certificate course KILA conducted for the people's representatives.

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