The Hindu 25.09.2009
Implement people-friendly projects, local bodies told
Staff Reporter
| ‘Kudumbasree Mission backbone of the People’s Plan’ |
. Photo—K.K. Najeeb 
Call for action: Finance Minister T. M. Thomas Isaac and Local Administration Minister Paloli Mohammed Kutty at a conference of heads of local bodies at the Kerala Institute of Local Administration in Thrissur on Thursday
Thrissur: Finance Minister T. M. Thomas Isaac has called upon local bodies to conceive and implement people-friendly projects to regain mass support for the People’s Plan campaign. In his keynote address at a conference of heads of local bodies from Thrissur, Malappuram and Palakkad districts at the Kerala Institute of Local Administration here on Thursday, Mr. Isaac pointed out that the People’s Plan would be effective only with people’s involvement. “Political will is needed to involve the public in various projects,” he said.
He pointed out that the government had embarked upon a mass campaign to provide houses and jobs to all as part of second phase of the People’s Plan campaign. The EMS Housing Scheme, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Kudumbasree Mission were the major highlights of the mass campaign. “The first installment of funds under the EMS Housing Scheme will be distributed to all eligible families by November. Local bodies should forward to the government the list of eligible candidates before October 10. Landless families, however, have to wait till next year for the grant. They will be provided land this year,” the Minister said.
Mr. Isaac asserted that the Kudumbasree Mission was the backbone of development activities under the People’s Plan. “Women’s empowerment was one of the key objectives of the People’s Plan in its first phase. Today, the plan is unthinkable without women’s participation.”
During Christmas, Kudumbasree fairs, which would sell subsidised goods, would be opened in the State, he said. Inaugurating the meeting, Minister for Local Administration Paloli Mohammed Kutty directed local bodies to ensure that no eligible homeless family be left out from the E.M.S. Housing Scheme.
A house is not a luxury but a necessity. The State now has about 4 lakh homeless families. Of these, one lakh are landless.
About two lakh houses have been constructed during the first half of the 11th Plan, he said. He warned against malpractices in preparing the list of eligible candidates. District Panchayat President Ambadi Venu, Planning Board Member C.P. Narayanan and others spoke.
