THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Thiruvananthapuram district panchayat has, for the third time, won the Deen Dayal Upadhyay national award for the best performance in the category. District panchayat president D Suresh Kumar said that the national recognition marks victory of team work during testing times. Some of them are Aswas project for free dialysis service to kidney patients and the Padheyam project to provide free food to the poor and Snehasparsam scholarship for physically challenged students.
During financial year 2020-21, 99 per cent of the plan outlay of the district panchayat was utilised in the general category, 98 per cent in the special sub plan category and 92 per cent in the Scheduled Tribes Sub Plan category.
In the manufacturing sector alone, about 32 per cent of various component schemes have been able to implement excellence programmes for women, the elderly, palliative care, persons with disabilities and transgender people. All the projects with emphasis on housing and water conservation have been able to bring the district panchayat to the forefront.
Covid containment activities were well-coordinated. Special wards were set up in all district hospitals under the district panchayat and necessary medicines and equipment were provided in a timely manner and food was provided to the patients. Besides free dialysis, the panchayat also provides free medicines to patients undergoing kidney and liver transplants. An amount of Rs 1 crore has been set apart for this.
More than Rs 3 crore has been spent on financial assistance schemes for Scheduled Caste and General Women engaged in traditional handicrafts. In addition, Rs 42 lakh was spent on creating employment opportunities for women. An amount of Rs 4.25 crore was spent annually for the Padheyam project, which provides an early meal to the poor.
Self-employment training scheme for differently abled, integrated treatment scheme for developmental disabilities in children, Snehasparsham scheme for providing scholarships to mentally challenged children, various schemes under the district panchayat to increase productivity in farms, classroom development in SC/ST areas were the other projects started by the district panchayat, said D Suresh Kumar in a statement.
Notably, the district panchayat has also bagged the state government’s Swaraj Trophy for the best performer four times.