Prudently spending 83.4% of the annual Plan fund, the Pathanamthitta district panchayat has stood first among its peers in terms of Plan fund utilisation, winning this year’s Swaraj Trophy instituted by the State government for the best district panchayat in the State.
Panchayat president Annapoornadevi and other members of the local body received the trophy from Minister for Local Self Government K.T. Jaleel at a function at Perinthalmanna in Malappuram on Monday. The award comprises a purse of ₹25 lakh, the trophy and a citation.
The Pathanamthitta district panchayat had utilised 85.10% of the Plan fund and stood second in terms of fund utilisation in the previous financial year.
The panchayat had executed various patient-care projects at the district hospital in Kozhencherry, District Ayurvedic Hospital at Ayroor, and at the District Homoeo Hospital at Kottanad during the past one year.
The District Hospital has got an air-conditioned ambulance, a sewage treatment plant, a dialysis unit, a new palliative care project, and many modern equipment in 2016-17. For the first time in the whole State, the district panchayat has launched a home-nurse training course called ‘Kaakkum Karangal’ at the district hospital.
Ms. Annapoornadevi said the panchayat had allocated a grant worth ₹85 lakh to the grama panchayats in the district for palliative care in their jurisdiction.
In the agriculture sector, the panchayat had spent ₹46,32,568 for coconut farming promotion and ₹1.62 crore for comprehensive paddy farming scheme, she said.
Varaalchal rejuvenation
According to George Mammen Kondoor, district panchayat vice-president, rejuvenation of Varaalchal, a floodplain wetland in the Pampa river basin at Koipram near Aranmula, was another major development project successfully launched by the panchayat.
The 2.5-km long, 150-m-wide natural stream was rejuvenated at a total cost of ₹30 lakh. Ms. Annapoornadevi had taken earnest efforts for the rejuvenation of Varaalchal. The rejuvenated Varaalchal had even recharged the wells too in the vicinity a year ago.
The panchayat had also taken the initiative to set up a computerised library, smart class rooms, special tuition for Class-X students, improved education facility for Scheduled Tribes students.
In the social welfare sector, the panchayat had spent ₹18,60,780 for distributing tri-scooter to physically challenged persons, besides ₹8,86,000 for providing nutritional supplements to HIV patients in the district. Ms. Annapoornadevi said the panchayat had initiated effective steps to extend drinking water supply and power connections to more interior reaches in the district.
