Some rest on their laurels while some others use these as stepping stones for even bigger heights. The Nedumangad Block Panchayat in Thiruvananthapuram district is literally doing the latter.
Winner of the Central government’s Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar for the best block panchayat for three consecutive years and a winner of the State government’s Swaraj Trophy for two consecutive years, the block panchayat is now using all the prize money to set up a fund to provide monthly grants to cancer patients from economically backward families.
The Nedumangad block panchayat now has ₹1.3 crore in a separate bank account, all of it received from prizes won over the past three years. This, along with funds obtained from Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes, will be deposited in a fixed deposit account and the interest used to set up a fund from which ₹1,000 each will be transferred to the bank accounts of cancer patients in five panchayats coming under the block.
“We have got a list of 20 cancer patients from each of the panchayats. Priority is given to children, differently abled, transgender persons, unmarried or divorced women or anyone who is unable to support himself/herself. The block panchayat has formed a committee consisting of doctors, which will conduct field visits to the houses of each of the persons on the list to verify their eligibility. Those chosen will get the monthly amount until the end of their treatment or through their lifetime. The formal launch of the project will be held by the end of this month,” says Nedumangad Block Panchayat president B. Biju.
He says that the local body decided to set up such a fund to fulfil its aim of interventions in palliative care.
Higher interest
“Usually, such prize money is spent on roads or buildings, for which we already have funds. We thought we should use it for welfare spending. The cooperative bank is an important partner in the initiative, providing a high interest of 7.25% for the fixed deposit. Individuals and organisations are donating as part of CSR,” says Mr. Biju.
Various projects
Some of the initiatives which fetched the block panchayats the awards include a bio-village for organic farming, where training in farming is also provided. It has also led the cleaning up of the first 22 km of the Killi River. A project incubation and training centre has also become a revenue generating venture for the block panchayat, along with the large organic farm.
