Thiruvananthapuram district panchayat has provided thrust on boosting agriculture in its annual budget. The local body, which has won the Swaraj Trophy four times on the trot, also intended to continue its successful welfare schemes.
The budget for the 2022-23 fiscal, which anticipated a revenue of ₹850.92 crore against an expenditure of ₹844.12 crore to denote a surplus of ₹6.8 crore, was presented by district panchayat vice president A. Shailaja Begum on Tuesday.
Highlighting the farm distress that has pushed large numbers of farmers into dire straits in the country, the budget has earmarked ₹14.96 crore for various activities planned in the agricultural sector.
The panchayat will expand its ongoing Kedaram project by encouraging paddy farming across 1,850 hectares of land in the district. While an assistance of ₹8,500 will be provided for each hectare, a total allocation of ₹1.5 crore has been made for the project. An amount of ₹2 crore has also been earmarked for the Keramrutham project that is aimed at planting 500 coconut seedlings each in grama, block and district panchayat wards with the assistance of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
An agricultural labour bank will also be set up with an allocation of ₹1 crore. The initiative will aim at creating a reserve team of 25 youths in each panchayat to be deployed for farm activities. As part of the scheme, ₹10 lakh will be provided to 10 panchayats each.
The Ksheera Samridhi scheme, with an allocation of ₹2.5 crore, will provide a subsidy of ₹4 for each litre of milk to dairy farmers. An allocation of ₹1 crore has been set aside to renovate the sheds in the Chettachal Jersey Farm where 100 more high-breed cows will be reared.
Automatic weather stations will be established in the agriculture and animal husbandry farms of the district panchayat at an expense of ₹10 lakh to measure atmospheric and soil conditions and plan activities accordingly.
The district panchayat has kept aside ₹110 crore for various public works including infrastructure development and renovation of existing buildings.
History museums will be established in select schools in the district. Stadiums will also be established at a cost of ₹2 crore to boost sporting facilities for students. An allocation of ₹2 crore has been made to install solar power facilities in 50 schools as part of the zero carbon district project.
Twenty anganwadis that function on own land will be made ‘Model Janasevana Kendram’ to improve service delivery in rural areas. Secondary palliative wards will be established in government hospitals in Vithura, Peroorkada and Nedumangad. Oxygen plants will be established at the Peroorkada and Neyyattinkara district hospitals.
The budget also earmarked ₹50 lakh for community study classes envisaged in tribal areas under the Vanajyothi project.
