Eighteen grama panchayats in Kozhikode district are finding it tough to use 30 per cent of their total Plan outlay for the 2013-14 fiscal before September 30, the deadline for meeting the target.
This comes at a time when efforts are in full swing across the State to achieve cent per cent utilisation of the Plan fund.
As a justification, some of the 18 panchayats have pointed at the absence of overseers and engineers to guide them through the projects.
The grama panchayat heads have informed the District Planning Committee (DPC) that the Plan fund utilisation will not be possible without posting engineers to the vacant posts. According to them, only those grama panchayats which have the sufficient number of engineers will be able to meet the deadline.
The complaint that came up before the DPC has been redirected to the Executive Engineer of the Local Self Government (LSG) Department.
The Executive Engineer will have to look into the posting of engineers or utilise the existing strength to cover the vacant posts.
The DPC has also asked the grama panchayats to do everything possible on their part to complete the pending undertakings and achieve the target.
The DPC comprising district panchayat vice-president R. Sasi, District Collector C.A. Latha, and District Planning Officer M.A. Ramesh, will look into the progress of works and give their suggestions.
The DPC hopes that majority of the LSG institutions will be able to achieve the 30-per cent target. The committee says total utilisation of funds will also be possible as the LSG institutions will get more time during this fiscal. Compared to the previous years, they get a nine month-period for cent per cent utilisation of funds.
In the last fiscal, it was the Balussery block panchayat that earned the distinction of having spent 99 per cent of its Plan fund for various projects. Kunnummel came second in the district with 92.5 per cent and Vadakara in the third position spending 90 per cent of the fund.
