THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Proving yet again that it’s time the state did a restructuring of its planning methodology, many local bodies, especially the urban ones, are yet to get approval for their 2011-12 annual plan.While none of the five corporations have received any approval for their plans, only two out of the 14 district panchayats have moved on to the implementation stage. Things look brighter at the grama panchayat-level with 959 of the total 978 panchayats getting approval for their annual plan.According to the data updated in the first week of September, 10 out of the 152 block panchayats and five out of the 60 municipalities are yet to get plan approval and kickstart their implementation. Now the local bodies have very little time to implement their plans. Moreover, the fact that it is the last annual plan in the 11th Five-Year Plan almost nullifies the possibilities of its implementation.The delay in reconstituting State-Level Technical Advisory Group (SLTAG) which clears projects prepared by urban local bodies has been pointed out as a reason for the delay in approval. However, district panchayats of Idukki and Pathanamthitta had cleared their projects from the previous SLTAG. Other panchayats could have toed their line.Another reason being cited is the election code of conduct that was in place in March, April and May. The local bodies were rushing with the implementation of projects meant for 2010-11, which affected the preparation of the new plan.The state government envisages a five-year plan modality for local bodies to avoid this exercise that ends on a futile note every year.“The truth is that the delay has become an annual affair, elections or not. Even if it is turned into a five-year thing, an annual plan would be inevitable.The local bodies would select projects that could be completed within a year and the same procedures would be repeated. This trend should change,” a planning expert said.Committees like the SLTAG and its constitution, clearance levels, the pattern of fund-sharing and government policy hinder easy plan preparation.“We have proposed the setting up of supporting committees for plan preparation instead of technicalcommittees. Many procedural changes are being mooted ahead of the 12th Five-Year Plan. “This undue delay would be a thing of the past once a five-year planning method is adopted,” Kerala Grama Panchayat Association president P T Mathew said.Although the LDF Govt had tried in the last two fiscals to coax local bodies to come up with their annual plans along with the budget, it yielded no result. The 12th Five-Year Plan, which is under process, is expected to propose a solution for the smooth implementation of an annual plan for local bodies
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