District panchayat president Ullas Thomas has said that a sharp drop in the State’s budgetary allocation for the district panchayat will make the implementation of some projects difficult during the new financial year.
The district panchayat has been trying to cope with the impact of the pandemic and two years of consecutive floods. The pandemic and the floods had resulted in the loss of livelihood for thousands of people in the district, he said.
The district panchayat was allotted ₹124.54 crore during 2018-19. During 2019-20, the amount allotted in the budget was ₹137.74 crore, and it went up to ₹137.82 crore during the current financial year. However, the allocation has sharply fallen to ₹53.31 crore for the 2021-22 year.
“We are not aware of the reasons for the sharp drop in allocation,” said Mr. Thomas, as he pointed out that the fall in allocation would affect the work on infrastructure such as roads. The maintenance of schools and hospitals too would be affected, he added.
The non-road maintenance grant has dropped from ₹10.15 crore during the current year to ₹4.69 crore in the new financial year. The road maintenance grant was ₹64.51 crore during the current year, but it has come down to ₹3.74 crore for the 2021-22 year.
