Govt. has not defaulted on 'Annapoorna': Minister

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, SEPT. 28. The Government has not defaulted on the implementation of the Centre-sponsored `Annapoorna' programme in the State, the Minister for Food and Tourism, Mr. E. Chandrasekharan Nair, said here today.

Referring to criticisms made by BJP leaders about non- implementation of the programme in the State, the Minister said that the guidelines of the programme had not yet been received by the State Government from the Centre. The Centre had informed the State that this was being printed. The implementation of the project was being delayed for want of the guidelines.

Mr. Chandrasekharan Nair said he had discussions with the Union Minister for Food and Civil Supplies during his visit to Thiruvananthapuram recently. The Union Minister had not said anything about implementation of the programme during the talks.

As soon as the State Government received information about the programme, it had issued directives to the Collectors to take steps to identify the beneficiaries. During this process, the panchayat elections were announced. Besides, there were difficulties in identifying the beneficiaries as per the directives of the Centre. The programme proposed distribution of 10 kg of rice free to 20 per cent of those who were eligible for national old age pension. The grama sabhas were to select the beneficiaries. The applicants should be above 65 years and indigent, lacking any livelihood. There were no guidelines as to how 20 per cent of them were to be identified from among eligible applicants.

The Joint Secretary to the Union Ministry of Rural Development had said in a letter dated August 21 that the project had been amended to give more clarity regarding the role of the village panchayats in the implementation of the project. He also said that the guidelines would be forwarded to the State Government shortly, the Minister said.

Mr. Nair continued that the State Government had specifically written to the Centre about the directive that a special account should be opened for depositing the money allocated under the programme. The State used to deposit all moneys received from Centre in the treasury for efficient financial management. Opening of separate account for each Centrally-sponsored scheme would not be conducive to better resource mobilisation and utilisation. Hence, the State proposed that the existing system should be continued in respect of the new programme also. There had been no reply from the Central Government in this regard.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : BJP makes substantial gains
Next     : Suryanelli case: two more convicts get bail