Kerala - Thrissur   

Students collect data on assets of local bodies

Staff Reporter

Maintenance grants to be based on asset registries compiled

THRISSUR: In a unique initiative, National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers have collected data on assets of local bodies in the State.

Nearly 6,000 volunteers, including 2,000 girls, from engineering colleges and polytechnics, participated in the data collection, conducted as part of a project for asset management in local bodies.

The project forms part of the Netherlands-funded Decentralisation Support Programme, the nodal agency of which is the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA).

KILA Director P.P. Balan told The Hindu here that the data on the assets of five corporations, 53 municipalities, 14 district panchayats, 152 block panchayats and 992 grama panchayats had been collected. The students did this, as part of their social work, during the Christmas vacation from December 23 to January 1 and from January 22 to 29.

The asset registers of the grama panchayats, municipalities and corporations have been prepared. Those of the district and block panchayats are being compiled.

"We have told the district panchayats and the block panchayats to complete the preparation of asset registries before February 15,'' Dr. Balan said.

While this work was done by the volunteers themselves in civic bodies and grama panchayats, the task was assigned to the engineers concerned in the block and the district panchayats.

``After the completion of the registries, KILA experts will scrutinise them. Subsequently, they will be submitted to the local body councils for approval, through appropriate resolutions. These resolutions and the supportive Government Order will give necessary legal validity to asset registries,'' project coordinator M.P. Rajan said.

Dr. Balan said the maintenance grant being given to local bodies would, in future, be based on the details available on the registries. At present, many local bodies were spending the grant on repairing and modifying their office buildings alone. Many of them did not even know that institutions such as health centres belonged to them, he added.

The assets data collected included details about lands, buildings, roads, institutions, agricultural farms, healthcare delivery units, educational institutions and other facilities owned by the local bodies, Mr. Rajan said.

Dr. Balan said the preliminary estimates indicated that the local bodies in the State own assets valued at Rs. 6,000 crores. The assets of grama panchayats varied between Rs. 2 crores and Rs. 10 crores.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Students collect data on assets of local bodies
In Thrissur Today

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu