THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said on Wednesday that the greatest strength of democracy was the government’s relationship with the people.
He said this while distributing the prize money given by the Centre for the best local bodies as part of the Panchayat Empowerment and Accountability Incentive Scheme (PEAIS).
“The local bodies should make use of the various Central and state projects. They should be able to provide benefits to the people in their respective places,” he said.
“The meaning of democracy can be imbibed in the right spirit when the last person gets welfare-incentives,” Chandy said. Minister for Panchayats M K Muneer said that the state needed new ideas and projects which could help in the overall development.
“The state came in the second place with regard to local bodies in the national-level this year from the previous year’s third place because of its good performance. In the coming year, we should strive to come to the top,” he said. Muneer received Rs 2.5 crore on behalf of the state as Kerala came second in the 2013-14 Sashaktikaran Award, instituted by the Centre.
Ernakulam District Panchayat, which bagged the Best District Panchayat Award, was presented with an amount of Rs 50 lakh.
The Block Panchayat Award, comprising a prize money of Rs 25 lakh was presented to Idukki and Nilambur blocks.
The Grama Panchayat awards were given to Adat grama panchayat and Pulamanthole grama panchayat, which got Rs 11 lakhs each. Chembilodu grama panchayat and Thiruvegapura grama panchayat got Rs.5.5 lakhs each.