THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Local bodies in the state of Kerala are facing a dilemma. On March 30, the state government released Rs 1,251 crore towards the third installment of development and plan funds for the last fiscal year.
However, as the government released the fund with just one day remaining in the financial year, 1200 local bodies have been unable to spend the bulk of the third installment and are now waiting for an extension to utilise the spillover fund.
The third installment of Rs 1,876.72 crore was supposed to be provided in early January so that the local bodies would be able to complete the works implemented before the next fiscal year. Instead, the LDF government only released one-third of it and delayed the next tranche until the eve of the financial year.
Usually, the state government releases development and plan funds in three installments.
Last fiscal, the first installment was given on April 8, the second on October 12, and a portion of the third in early January. However, due to a funds crunch, the third installment was not fully released, and only one-third of it was provided to the local bodies. M Murali, Rajiv Gandhi Panchayati Raj Sangathan State chairman, claimed that less than 10% of the sanctioned amount was utilised by the local bodies.
“The LDF government can always claim that they had given the three installments towards the plan funds and development funds on time. But what’s the point in granting the funds on the eve of the financial year? If the state government has an iota of commitment, then they should seek an extension urgently, at least for a month”, Murali, former Congress MLA from Mavelikara told TNIE.
During former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s tenure, the then UDF government gave a two-month extension to use spillover funds. A similar incident occurred during the pandemic times which saw the previous LDF government under the aegis of the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan granting three months extension to utilise the spillover funds.
But in this case here now the lapsed funds have not gone into the consolidated fund but instead remain with the treasury. Sarada Muraleedharan, additional chief secretary (local self-government), said that spillover of funds from the previous fiscal year has been happening almost every year due to various reasons. She added that the state government sanctions the spillover after checking the financial status and hoped that the unutilised funds would be granted to the local bodies soon.
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