The governing body meeting of the Rs.219 crore Japan-aided Attappady Hill Area Development Society (AHADS) project, which is completing its 10-year implementation period in March, was extended up to August this year.
The governing body meeting presided over by its Chairman and Principal Secretary to the Government of Kerala S.M. Vijayanand also learned to have decided to redeploy its 107 permanent staff members in various other government departments and local bodies.
But the governing body could not take a decision on the 300 temporary local staff who were working as volunteers, fire watchers, co-ordinators with the project for the last one decade.
In fact these employees were on agitation path demanding the government to provide them permanent employment in other departments once AHADS project ended. Though they had withdrawn their agitation there is no decision taken on them in the governing body meeting or at the government level, the sources in the governing body said.
They said that the remaining work of the project will be implemented through local bodies. The expenditure for the project during the extended period from March to August will be met by the government of Kerala, the sources said.
The governing body meeting was attended by Deputy Speaker Jose Baby, SC and ST Commission Chairman P.K. Sivanandan, member T. Madhava Menon, District Collector K.V. Mohan Kumar among others.
