Sarada Muraleedharan, Additional Chief Secretary, Local Self Government (Urban and Rural) Department has said that more focus should be given to the health and education of tribal children in the district.
Addressing the District Planning Committee meeting here on Monday, Ms. Muraleedharan said that the uncertainty over “Gothra Saradhi”, a project to bring children from tribal hamlets to the nearest school by providing free transport in order to address the issue of school dropouts, should be resolved.
The concerned departments should earmark funds for the project and priority should be given to the children from remote tribal hamlets, Ms. Muraleedharan said.
The District Planning Committee should assess the fund allocation of the Tribal Development Department and local administrative bodies for the project and, if needed, steps should be adopted to raise more funds, she said.
Each civic body should draft its own master plan for disaster management and prominence should be given to shelter management, Ms. Muraleedharan said.
District panchayat president Shamshad Marakkar presided over the function, District Collector A. Geetha, District Planning Officer R. Manilal and senior officials of various departments attended the meeting.
