A meeting of the district planning committee (DPC) here recently approved project proposals worth ₹98.94 crore submitted by local self-government institutions in Kottayam for the financial year 2021-22.
As per estimates, 71 grama panchayats submitted 1,170 proposals worth ₹53.27 crore while 11 block panchayats prepared 175 projects worth ₹10.94 crore. The six municipalities in the district cumulatively have 242 projects worth ₹23.75 crore and the district panchayat submitted 94 projects worth ₹10.98 crore.
About 60% of the proposals, which seek approval for the disbursal of the plan fund allocation under the 15th Finance Commission, consist of potable water and waste management projects
The meeting, chaired by district panchayat president Nirmala Jimmy, approved the annual plans of the Changanassery municipality, Manarkad and Manjur grama panchayats and the proposals submitted by the Pala, Kottayam, Vaikom and Ettumanoor municipalities for approval of the labour budget by including them in the Ayyankali Employment Guarantee Scheme. With this, the annual plans of all 89 local bodies in Kottayam have received approvals.
Directing that the projects undertaken by the local bodies for pre-monsoon cleaning and disaster management should be completed on time, the chairperson said the committee had already approved projects to address the floods and monsoon-related diseases.
According priority to procurement of antigen kits and conducting maximum number of COVID-19 tests, it called for the local bodies to provide necessary support to the Department of Health to ensure the availability of oxygen in first-line treatment centres. The meeting urged the local bodies to ensure all children studying in public schools access to basic facilities for online classes.
District Collector M Anjana, District Planning Officer S. Satyaprakash, LSGI presidents and department heads attended the meeting.
