Target of Rs. 75 lakh exceeded
“More than Rs. 1 crore has been contributed by the people of Namakkal district for various works under the Self-Sufficiency Scheme (SSS) through which works have been carried out from November 2011,” said District Collector J. Kumaragurubaran.
SSS attracts 67 per cent of the funds from the government while one third (33 per cent) is contributed by the public. About the successful outcome of the projects, Mr. Kumaragurubaran said donors could choose the project for which they wanted to contribute. “Contributions made by the institutions, industries and individuals ranged between Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 10 lakh to boost the share of public contribution to Rs. 94 lakh. These funds were offered by 60 contributors to carry out five works that were initiated in 2011-12,” he said.
“This is Rs. 19 lakh more than the target (Rs. 75 lakh) fixed for public contribution for that year,” he added.
Works under way through SSS are for setting up a park in Namakkal town at a cost of Rs. 75 lakh, District Sports Complex at a cost of Rs. 63 lakh and a library for candidates preparing for competitive examinations in Namakkal at Rs. 48 lakh. Two schemes are partly covered under the scheme – a park in Tiruchengode at Rs. 66 lakh (Rs. 51 lakh under SSS and rest by the municipality) and a park at Oodapalli at Rs. 69 lakh (Rs. 39 lakh under SSS and rest by PWD).
“Two of these works will be completed before June while the other three schemes will be put to use before July,” Mr. Kumaragurubaran said. “So far, Rs. 21.7 lakh has been contributed by 30 donors for works in 2012-13, taking the total contribution of the public under SSS to Rs. 115.7 lakh in six months,” he added.
The three works for this year at an estimate of Rs. 195 lakh will be carried out with public contribution of Rs. 65 lakh. The works are establishment of a public library in Rasipuram at Rs. 75 lakh, a park in Komarapalayam at Rs. 60 lakh and beautification works of the Amman Kulam Park in Tiruchengode at Rs. 60 lakh.
