Incumbent president of the Kozhikode district panchayat Kannathil Jameela may not be contesting the polls this time, but she is confident that the development initiatives during her five-year tenure will see the CPI (M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) romp home in the local body elections.
“The district panchayat focused its attention on all sectors. Top priority was given to education, health, agriculture and industry. Almost all the schemes that we launched were running successfully,” Ms. Jameela said.
Model schools
Model schools were set up at Atholi, Balussery, Chorode and Punoor, which now have necessary facilities such as science and computer labs and a gym. Utmost care was taken to improve the infrastructure in all government schools, she said.
“The Vijayotsavam programme, aimed at improving SSLC results by offering special coaching to students, had achieved its desired effect. For the past three years, Kozhikode district had registered the highest number of A Plus students in the State. Today, students from the lower and middle income groups and those from the fishing and farming communities vie with their counterparts in the city,” she said.
Ms. Jameela consecutively contested the polls on the CPI (M) ticket since 1995 when she was elected president of the Thalakulathur grama panchayat.
She was standing committee chairperson of the panchayat in 2000; president of the Chelannur block panchayat; and later elevated as district panchayat president in 2010 when the post was reserved for women.
Likewise, she said the district panchayat had been able to focus on government-run hospitals by providing them with essential equipment. It had also tied-up with the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital for early detection of cancer and treatment.
“Besides, it had successfully implemented the Snehasparsham project for kidney patients at the Kuttiyadi Government Hospital and the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital,” she said.
On the agriculture front, she said farming initiatives in Koothali, Perambra, Puthuppadi and Thikkodi had yielded positive results. The district was almost self-reliant in milk production. The modern poultry farm at Chathamangalam can now hatch 5,000 chicks at a time. “Organic vegetable farming executed through Kudumbasree units had registered an all-time record,” Ms. Jameela added.
The development of the industrial estates at Cheruvannur- Nallalam with 45 exclusive plots for was a model for the State, she said.
