Kerala: Congress-ruled local bodies to protest non-payment of plan fund, grants
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after the state budget was presented, Congress leaders from 1,200 local bodies in the state have decided to hold a slew of protest meetings and dharnas on February 14 against the denial of the third lot of plan fund and maintenance grant. The state government owes the local bodies a whopping Rs 3,067 crore, which was announced in last year’s budget.
The decision of the Congress-ruled local bodies comes when there are only 54 days left in the current fiscal year. Rajiv Gandhi Panchayati Raj Sangathan state chairman M Murali said the LDF government owes Rs 1,851 crore towards plan fund and Rs 1,216 crore towards maintenance grant that should have been released last December.
“The LDF government had sanctioned Rs 6,134 crore, but because of the treasury ban, not even 30% of it was released towards the functioning of local bodies,” Murali said.