Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

World Bank aid for local bodies

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Local self-government institutions in the State are likely to get substantial World Bank assistance for various capacity-building schemes.

A World Bank team which held negotiations with State government officials recently is understood to have expressed its willingness to give assistance to the tune of Rs.1,200 crore at 0.125 per cent interest. The loan has to be repaid in 40 years.

A chunk of the assistance will be for the second phase of the Jalanidhi scheme. Informed sources in the Local Self-Government Department told The Hindu here that the team which made a comparative study of the functioning of civic bodies in other States and Kerala, appreciated the progress in the devolutionary process here and offered significant support for capacity-building activities, mainly training of the 20,000-odd elected representatives and an equal number of employees.

In spite of the training and educational programmes organised by various agencies like the Kerala Institute of Local Administration, a thorough training was still felt to be imperative for putting the members and employees in the right perspective for improving the efficiency of the LSGIs. This include preparation of projects in a complementary manner and making optimum use of the funds left at their disposal within a set timeframe.

Given the progress in the decentralisation process in the State, the team has offered liberal assistance without any condition. But, during the course of the deliberations, the team members are learnt to have informed the officials that the support will be given only for one project which can have different components, essentially the Jalanidhi scheme.

The government has not yet received an official communication in confirmation of the assistance. On getting the intimation, the Local Administration Department will have to furnish the details regarding the capacity-enhancement programmes for approval.

Though the team has specified that the loan will not be conditional, the agencies concerned will have to secure political clearance before going ahead with the formalities like preparation of the projects to be submitted to the World Bank. The finer aspects of utilisation will be worked out without any discord on getting the World Bank intimation, the sources said.

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