‘People’s Scheme’ has come to a standstill owing to ineffective marketing.
‘’The members of the unit were selected after interview. We contributed Rs 5,000 per head to the unit to make it functioning. Grama panchayat had provided the building, water supply and electricity. But the district
panchayat failed to take up the marketing as promised. Our products had to compete with those from the corporates. Therefore, effective marketing was essential. Increase in the price of raw materials was another issue. We had informed the district panchayat about the issue and their monitoring showed that the unit was at a loss, after which we were forced to shut down,” said Biju Mohan, former president, Aryanad panchayat.
“The district panchayat promised to market the products. But it was not that much effective. Then we started it in our own way, but it also failed,” said Anilkumar, former president of Malayinkeezhu panchayat.
“This scheme was implemented during the tenure of the previous governing council. Allegations were there not only about marketing but also on the quality of machinery purchased. Though the units are closed the keys are yet to be handed over to the panchayats concerned or the district panchayat,” said district panchayat member Malayinkeezhu Venugopal.
“The machinery provided by them was not good. The marketing company borrowed Rs 30,000 from us for providing buckets and other utensils. Packing units were at Anayara and we used to send the powders in large containers there. As they gave bulk orders we used to buy large quantity of raw materials on credit. But after that the company which gave us the order refused to take the products. The coordination between us and the company was done by a supervisor. But he disappeared after two weeks. Then we tried door-to-door sale. But it did not work and we had to shut down,” said a woman neighbourhood unit member.
“We are financially backward people. We have invested Rs 5,000 each. The money was borrowed at high interest. When we defaulted in repayments of the loans, banks started to go ahead with recovery procedures,” she added.
However, district panchayat president Ansajitha Russell said that the marketing was given to a private company. “As the company cheated us we were not able to market the products properly.
Now, we are planning to revive the project. A meeting between these unit members and the district panchayat will be held soon. As the unit members did not hand over the keys, we have not been able to open these units. The panchayat did not loot the money. Anyway, a detailed probe is essential into this issue,” she said.