By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : Kerala’s Left government is all set to re-launch its earlier People’s Plan Campaign, one of the path breaking programmes to reach the Five Year Plan funds to the grassroots level, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said here Wednesday.
The chief minister said the campaign, introduced by a previous communist government in 1996 and billed the second most radical movement after the land reforms, would be launched again Aug 17.
The highlight of the first campaign was devolution of 35 percent of funds from the 9th Five Year Plan Outlay for programmes like drinking water projects and income generating schemes drawn out by local bodies including village councils across the state.
Achuthanandan admitted that were some shortcomings in the earlier plan but added they would be taken into account this time round.
“Local self government ministers from several states and presidents of various local bodies from across the country will be present at the inauguration,” he told reporters here.
The A.K. Antony government that took over in 2001 renamed the programme as the Kerala Development Plan and it almost came to a halt.
Finance Minister Thomas Isaac, considered the architect of the 1996 People’s Plan, said there would be changes in the new programme.
“Last time we were more involved in the procedures of planning and this time we will concentrate on the content. Though I won’t have a direct role, by virtue of being finance minister, I would certainly play a key role when it comes to giving out funds. This time the allocation would be around 25 percent of the (Five Year) Plan outlay,” Isaac told IANS.
He added that the focus would be to improve the quality of health and education.