THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a relief to 96 families in the Manamboor panchayat, free food distribution scheme under the Agathi Rahitha Keralam project will resume following intervention by the Human Rights Commission. The scheme was suspended due to a lack of funds.
The Human Rights Commission intervened after receiving complaints about the disruption.
Justice Alexander Thomas, Chairperson of the Commission, summoned the Kudumbashree District Mission Coordinator and the Grama Panchayat Secretary to address the issue.
Kudumbashree informed the commission that the Manamboor panchayat had received two installments under the Agathi Rahitha Keralam project.
However, only the utilisation certificate for the first installment was submitted. The commission was told that the third installment would be sanctioned once the utilisation certificate for the second installment and the application for the third were received.
Justice Alexander Thomas directed the panchayat to submit both documents immediately.
The commission further instructed Kudumbashree to release the funds without delay after receiving the required documents and to ensure distribution to eligible beneficiaries.
Notices were issued to both the Kudumbashree director and the panchayat secretary after reviewing their reports.
The panchayat secretary said that funds had been allocated under the Kudumbashree Mission’s challenge fund to provide food grain kits to families for 36 months.
The panchayat also reported that 37 elderly beneficiaries receive daily cooked meals under the Padheyam scheme.
Kudumbashree promised the commission that funds would be sanctioned as soon as the panchayat submits the necessary application. Mavila Vijayan of Nirmal Nivas, who filed the complaint, requested emergency assistance for three destitute families under the Agathirahitha Keralam project. Justice Alexander Thomas directed the panchayat secretary to provide immediate aid to these families.
The Kudumbashree Mission Director and the Manamboor panchayat secretary are required to submit a compliance report after implementing the order.
Meanwhile, the panchayat president Nahas A said that the project was not exclusive to Manamboor panchayat but to 73 panchayats of the district. “The project was completed 1.5 years ago and the only live project is Padheyam,” said Nahas A.