Every penny spent by local bodies in the State for child welfare will now come under a closer scrutiny by the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
In a move to assess the utilisation of funds for child welfare through a detailed study, the Subordinate Legislation Committee of the State Assembly has asked the child rights panel to submit a report on the use of funds by local bodies for welfare of children. “The aim of the study is to find out how the local bodies utilise the funds earmarked for child welfare. The process will begin with the collection of data on the spending by each local body in the State,” Shoba Koshy, Chairperson of the Commission, told The Hindu .
The panel will approach local bodies and the State Planning Board to seek details of the funds earmarked for child welfare and the money spent on various programmes. Ms. Koshy pointed out that the study would cover how the local bodies had utilised the funds for welfare of children under the MP and MLA funds.
The utilisation of funds in care and protection homes for juveniles in the State will also be analysed as part of the initiative. The panel will look into the annual spending under various heads in various schools under each local body as per the provisions of the Right to Education Act. The money spent on laboratories, purchase of desks and benches and other related equipment on the campuses will be analysed.
The utilisation of funds for mid-day meals and infrastructure in schools will come under the ambit of the proposed study.
The panel will also probe the spending in pre-matric hostels under local bodies. The key objective of the initiative is to check whether the local bodies are effectively utilising the funds meant for child welfare.
The process will begin with data collection on the spending by local bodies in the State.
