KASARGOD: Can a grama panchayat stop funding the construction work of a house midway if the LIFE Mission beneficiary gets a job after the project is sanctioned? LIFE Mission chief executive P B Nooh says there is "no justification" in denying further installments.
But to get this reply, Geetha C, a Scheduled Tribe woman from Kodom-Bellur panchayat, had to move the High Court of Kerala and she lost four precious months in the process. "The panchayat officials could have checked with their superiors and released the money instead of causing hardship to the woman," said
Narayanan Kannadipara, the oorumoopan (head of tribe community), who helped Geetha move the court.
Geetha (37), a member of the Mavilan tribe, recently got a job in KSFE as an office attendant. In 2021, Kodom Bellur gram panchayat sanctioned Rs 6 lakh to Geetha to build a 400 sq ft house under the LIFE Mission.
Till then, she and her husband Babu C were living in a dilapidated house at Rajiv Gandhi ST Colony in Thattummel Colony near Attenganam. "We brought down the old house and cleared the plot for the construction of the house," said Babu, a daily wage labourer.
On September 10, 2021, the panchayat released Rs 40,000 as the first tranche, and on September 30, it released Rs 32,500 as the second tranche. With the money, the couple readied the foundation of the house.
In November, Geetha got the job as an office attendant in KSFE, the state government's chit fund, and loan company.
In December, when she approached the panchayat for the next tranche to build the walls and the roof structure, village extension officers Ashokan and Arya refused to release further money as Geetha now got a job. The couple approached the panchayat secretary and other officials but all gave the same reply. "They said we should get an order from the government which will allow them to release the money," said Babu.
The couple said they approached the panchayat president and their ward member, but they said the officials would know the rules better. That's when they approached oorumoopan Narayanan. "As I had worked with the Taluk Legal Service Committee in Kanhangad, I knew the couple could get justice
from the High Court," he said.
Narayanan took Geetha to the Kerala State Legal Services Authority in Kochi. It assigned Resmi Nandanan as Geetha's advocate and they filed a petition in the High Court in January.
When Justice T R Ravi took up the petition on March 22, the government pleader told the court that the Life Mission had directed the panchayat to release the money to Geetha in February. "On February 21, the chief executive officer of the Life Mission has already ordered after taking note of the ground realities, that there is no justification to refuse grant of further instalments and has directed to continue grant of the
further instalments also," the government pleader told the court.
Based on the government's stance, the judge closed the petition. But Geetha was yet to get the money. "Our neighbours who started the construction work with us have finished their roofing. We are living in a rented house and have lost four months," he said.
"Hope Geetha's case will ensure no beneficiary of LIFE undergoes this harassment if they get a job," he said.