A slew of measures aimed at providing security and self-employment to women have been proposed in the Rs.1,076-crore budget unveiled by the city Corporation for the next financial year.
The budget presented in the council meeting of the civic body on Thursday outlines a number of steps, including a helpline desk for women, programme to train young girls in martial arts, and skill development programmes for self-employment. The budget outlay for the next financial year has doubled. The outlay for last year was Rs.504.30 crore.
The Corporation has earmarked Rs.10 lakh to establish helpdesks at Thampanoor bus stand and the Government Medical College Hospital. It has set aside Rs.10 lakh to train girls in martial arts such as karate and kalaripayattu in schools.
A sum of Rs.25 lakh has been incorporated in the budget to help Kudumbasree members find self-employment in solar power generation. The Corporation has also proposed to provide its convention halls for a nominal amount to conduct wedding ceremonies of daughters of widows belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
The Corporation also plans to work in close coordination with the city police to install more closed circuit television cameras to provide security for women. The cameras will also help the civic administration nab people who dump garbage in public places.
An amount of Rs.50 lakh has been earmarked in the budget to provide medical assistance, mainly for heart-related ailments, to people in the BPL category and Rs.20 lakh has been incorporated to establish a dialysis unit at Santhivila Hospital, Nemom, which is run by the Corporation.
The Rs.16-crore surplus budget, which finds no mention of change in the present tax structure, also gives emphasis on improving the condition of roads, providing housing for people belonging to BPL category, slum-dwellers, and fishermen.
Of the total estimate, bulk of the amount is expected to come as capital receipts which include grants for specific schemes mooted by the State and Union governments. The Corporation’s own share comes to around Rs.300 crore, which includes around Rs.115 crore as tax receipts, Rs.109 crore as revenue grants and contributions, Rs.22 crore as fees and user charges, and Rs.40 crore from other incomes.
