KOZHIKODE: The Beypore, Cheruvannur and Nallalam Municipality Formation Action Committee has, once again, expressed its demand to bifurcate the three erstwhile panchayats that were incorporated with the Kozhikode Corporation. The committee also wants the government to raise them to the status of municipality.
M C Mayin Haji, patron of the Beypore, Cheruvannur and Nallalam Municipality Formation Action Committee, said on Monday that the panchayats were brought under the corporation, citing that it would help avail of Central government funds that could be utilised for the development of the city and the implementation of several schemes.
However, even four years after the panchayats were incorporated, there had been no development, he said and added that the corporation was answerable on the utilisation of the funds it had received from the Central government under various schemes.
He said that not only had the development been stagnated, but also the people in those panchayats were facing innumerable problems.
A year before being added to the corporation, each panchayat had been allocated `9 crore for development and 97 per cent of the funds were utilised. However, even four years after amalgamation, the corporation had allocated only `5 crore for development purpose in those panchayats. Only 45 per cent of that fund had been utilised, he said. Likewise, the funds allocated under various state and central government schemes for grama, block and district panchayats had been stopped after being incorporated in the corporation. He further alleged that those panchayats which were providing about 50 to 100 houses to the people below poverty line, were allocated only fewer than 15 houses after being incorporated with the corporation.
Justifying their demand to bifurcate from the corporation, he said that people could not present their problems to the councillor. The people, at present, had to pay in order to submit their complaints to the corporation officials, he said. They were also forced to pay more for everything, including registration, water and property tax.
Mayin Haji alleged that bringing those panchayats into the corporation fold was the idea of the CPM during the last local body elections, as they feared that they were on the verge of losing a good number of wards and would be voted out of power.
The move to amalgamate the Beypore, Chervannur and Nallalam panchayats with the corporation was a step towards strengthening the CPM base in the corporation elections, rather than improving the infrastructure facility in those erstwhile panchayats. The move had helped the people in power, many of whom had been charged with corruption and illegal activities, he alleged.
While a case has been filed in the court against the government to bifurcate the panchayat from the corporation, Mayin Haji said that the case had not come up for hearing and every time it was being extended.
However, if the government agrees to accept the demand to upgrade those panchayats to municipality, they were ready to withdraw the case for the benefit of people, said Madhav Das, treasurer of the committee, who has filed the case.