Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

No delay in Plan implementation: Isaac

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac has described as “baseless” the UDF allegation that there was inordinate delay in implementing the Plan projects for 2007-08. The agitation planned by the UDF on October 24 against the alleged delay in the process was politically motivated, he said.

Dr. Isaac, who holds additional charge of Local Administration, said in a statement here on Monday that there were no impediments in executing the Eleventh Plan projects. Preparation of Plan projects in the first year was a time-consuming process and this year too it had not exceeded the time taken in the previous years.

The first year projects of Ninth and Tenth Plan were approved only in December. While the date for submitting projects of grama panchayats in the first year of the Tenth Plan in 2002-03 was November 1, block panchayats and municipalities submitted their projects on November 12 and district panchayats and corporations on November 19 for approval. The dates for approving the projects were set at November 22, November 24 and December 16 respectively.

All projects can be cleared before November 10. The argument that approval for projects was being delayed to deprive local self-government institutions (LSGIs) of Plan funds lacked substance, he said. The government has taken steps to expedite the execution process.

As many as five instalments of the Plan funds have been distributed from April. The sixth and seventh instalments of maintenance and general purpose grants have been disbursed.

The District Planning Committees (DPCs) were told to give special approval to spill-over projects in April so that there would not be any cut in Plan funds.

The LSGIs were permitted to expend 75 per cent of the State share of the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and also do maintenance of road works in a time-bound manner.

The LDF government was committed to providing the due share of Plan funds to the LSGIs. Of the Rs.1313 crore due to the panchayats, Rs.656 crore has already been disbursed and out of the Rs.227 crore due to municipalities and corporations, Rs.113.50 crore has been distributed. Maintenance and general purpose grants worth Rs.144 crore and Rs.141 crore have also been given to the LSGIs.

The government was committed to streamlining the functioning of LSGIs. Computerisation was progressing. Data entry has been completed in 50 per cent of the LSGIs. The UDF, which has called for an agitation had cut the Plan funds during the Tenth Plan period and had not given the Tribal Sub-Plan funds. While the Plan process was progressing in the right direction, the agitation was meant to mislead the public, he said. Dr. Isaac sought public cooperation to expedite the planning process in a systematic manner.

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