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Thiruvananthapuram, Oct. 5 The Kerala Government will meet the interest burden if grama panchayats take bank loans to implement the EMS Housing Scheme, according to the Finance Minister, Dr Thomas Isaac.

Participating in a seminar, Decentralisation of Powers in Kerala, Dr Isaac said that the panchayats should take the initiative to construct houses for the homeless in their region by taking bank loans and the Government would pay the interest.

He said that apart from construction of houses, the panchayats should extend the Aashraya scheme to the impoverished and try to give pension to those above the age of 65 in the below-poverty-line category. The Government will post an accountant in all panchayats by the year-end, considering the volume of funds being handled by the local bodies, following the decentralisation of powers.

The Minister noted that the decentralisation model of the State had attracted attention of countries such as Brazil. The first phase of the “peoples’ plan” had a lot of achievements. However, mass participation has begun to come down and hence the thrust should be on including people in the implementation of the project.

The Local Administration Minister, Mr Paloli Mohammed Kutty, said that there was a tendency to generalise even minor flaws and create an impression that the peoples’ plan was a failure. The local self-government institutions have played a significant role in improving the health and education sectors of the State. Now, they should take the lead in housing and other sectors also, he said.

More Stories on : Social Welfare | Housing Finance | Kerala

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