CAG unhappy with the way Kerala local bodies use central funds

In the CAG report tabled in the Kerala Legislative Assembly, it is stated the local bodies of the state has not properly used the central funds allocated for the development and empowerment programs. According to the report, nearly forty per cent of the fund earmarked by the central government for the centrally sponsored schemes has not been properly channeled for the purpose it has been allocated so it has gone unutilised. The development programs like the housing projects and slum development projects and the rural empowerment and poverty alleviation programs such as the rural empowerment guarantee program mainly depend on the central funds. The improper utilization of the central funds spoils the development efforts initiated by the central government as the centrally sponsored schemes play an important role in transforming the country. The report also identifies that the agencies such as the Poverty Alleviation Units, Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project and Kudumbasree, which have been constituted to cater the empowerment needs and development needs, has also failed to use the fund properly, citing that over six hundred core of the total fund allocated to these agencies has been unsuccessful to meet its purpose. Since the introduction of the panchayat raj system, the decentralised administrative system, the local bodies have been regarded as a vital organ of the central government as it has been bestowed with an import purpose of reaching out to the people. Time and again, several local bodies have proved its inability to carry out their duty sincerely. It is the high time to create a responsible central agency to make sure that the central government funds are utilised properly and are not leaked.

Vignesh

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