THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan alleged the government which is facing an acute financial crisis has paralysed the functioning of local bodies by delaying annual project implementation. He said there is an attempt to deliberately delay the plan for the current financial year by slashing the budget allocation.
“You are not ready to give fund allocation to the local bodies to hide the financial crisis. The government orders are issued to delay the plan implementation. It is a new method devised to delay the implementation even if the plan expenditure is in the books,” said Satheesan while speaking during the adjournment motion moved by the Opposition to highlight the poor conditions of the local bodies.
Muslim League’s Najeeb Kanthapuram who moved the motion alleged that the LDF government has rendered the local bodies scarecrows by slashing their powers. He questioned the sanctity of the budget when the government resorts to orders that nullify the allocation made in the budget to the local bodies.
LSG Minister M V Govindan said the government had taken steps to ensure that the plans were approved on time in the first year of the 14th Five Year Plan.
“It is not correct to say that the annual plans were delayed by three months. We started the preparations to avoid the delay. The proposal for using former budget allocation as a temporary measure for the current financial year was made to avoid delay,” he said.