Kozhikode
Mayor Beena Philip on Wednesday asked councillors to be cautious against ineligible persons securing funds from the government-sponsored Life Mission housing project. At a meeting of the special council here on Wednesday, she said that some homeowners were seeking financial assistance in the name of their elderly mothers for the scheme meant for landless and homeless people. The council decided to submit to the State government a list of 1,195 homeless beneficiaries. However, only 500 people had submitted documents including title deeds and tax receipts, she said. The last day for filing documents was Wednesday. But councillors demanded more time to submit the documents. The Mayor said she had asked the government to extend the deadline. The financial assistance would be provided to those who have land outside the city in grama panchayats to build houses. The draft list of beneficiaries would be released on April 16 after a two-stage appeal process, Ms. Paul said. Meanwhile, the council meeting approved various public work in the divisions. It also endorsed the activities included in the annual plan for 2021-22. The council also witnessed noisy scenes on the issue of the unfinished renovation work at Panniyankara-Maluamma Junction- Manarithodu, a project which was earlier approved by the council. The opposition members belonging to the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) alleged that the work was stopped illegally on the instructions of the CPI(M) local secretary. They alleged that chairman of the Standing Committee on Public Works P.C. Rajan had intervened to halt the construction of the canal walls and the paving slabs. The opposition members said that suspension of the project which the council had approved after an all-party meeting was unacceptable. Panniyankara councillor K. Nirmala had raised the issue at the meeting earlier. Leader of the Opposition K.C. Shobhita said that it was improper to suspend the work mid-way while IUML member K. Moideen Koya express the fear that the funds would lapse if the project got stalled. The commotion ended after the Mayor and Mr. Rajan assured the council that the issue would be resolved amicably.
