Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Plan panels to be broad-based

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The District Planning Committees (DPCs), which play a pivotal role in coordinating the activities of the local self-government institutions, will be developed as a secretariat of planning and development by bringing more agencies under its ambit.

According to Local Administration Department sources, district coordinators of the Kudumbasree Mission as well as the district office of the Additional Development Commissioner (General), Rural Affairs, will be brought under the DPCs soon. The addition is expected to give more teeth to the committees and develop them as a secretariat of the planning and development process.

The District Planning Officers, Town and Country Planning Department and the district offices of the Bureau of Economics and Statistics are already working in coordination with the DPCs. The latest addition has been mooted as per the directive of the Planning Commission to ensure better coordination of various departments to work out integrated and comprehensive Plan documents to propel the growth and development in a scientific manner. Following the decentralisation of powers, almost all crucial functions of the government have been delegated to the LSGIs. Hence, scrutiny of their Plan projects has become more significant.

Strengthening of the DPCs and converting them into nerve centres of the planning process are imperative for working out a State Plan in the right perspective. Since the DPCs which whet the projects mainly include elected representatives, they need technical assistance for preparing the district plans and also evaluating and clearing the projects of LSGIs. There were complaints that the DPCs were clearing the projects as just a ritual and the lack of a thorough scrutiny has affected the quality of the projects too. During the previous years, the DPCs used to give conditional sanction to various projects. After securing conditional clearance, most of the LSGIs failed to honour the conditions and the projects have either been left incomplete or relinquished.

By providing technical support, the DPCs will be able to evaluate the projects and assess their net worth. They will also be able to make sure that the projects help the preparation of the district plan and an all-inclusive State plan too.

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

Stories in this Section

KMVS stir
Veterinary meet
Consortium to provide loans
Encroachments on resumed land: Minister
Doctors deputed
Temple declared protected monument
AGs’ office stir: VS plea to Manmohan
53.77 per cent cast vote in referendum
Plan panels to be broad-based
Selected
Owners ill-treating animals at tourist spots in district
Call to intensify research on drug development
Khadi cluster inaugurated
53.77 per cent cast vote in Railway referendum
Thiruvananthapuram today

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu