People's Campaign jolts Kerala ministers

The People's Campaign has jolted several Kerala ministers. Afraid that they would lose their control over local bodies if the campaign's projects, which are now being scrutinised by experts, are implemented, the ministers have raised a banner of revolt against the state planning board.

The ministers, also angry with the cut in budget allocations to their projects, have taken up the matter with the Left Democratic Front state committee, the top coordinating agency for the ruling front constituents. Some non-CPI-M ministers said the board was usurping their powers in the name of decentralisation.

Blaming the CPI-M faction politics for the state of affairs, the ministers said the board has emerged as a power-centre because CPI-M patriarch E M S Namboodiripad and Chief Minister E K Nayanar did not have much say in the party headquarters which is controlled by politburo member V S Achutanandan. The Achutanandan group backed Nayanar as chief minister in May 1996 as he failed to make it to the assembly from Mararikhulam.

Several legislators are also extremely unhappy with the campaign which has been acclaimed by the central Planning Commission and other agencies. Their feelings were echoed by Speaker M Vijayakumar, much to the embarrassment of the CPI-M bosses. The speaker's outbursts led to a serious debate over the legislators's role in development work.

Namboodiripad said that such concerns were bound to be generated as decentralisation was becoming a reality. He asked politicians and officials to change their old concepts about development.

Meanwhile, maintaining that they had no role in budget allocations, a board source said such decisions were the prerogative of the finance ministry. He said even bureaucrats harboured similar feelings.

Launched in the state in August 1996, the campaign has identified about 150,000 projects to be implemented by the local bodies during the Ninth Plan period.An experts committee has been constituted to scrutinise these projects and select those which are technically and financially viable. The selected projects will be implemented by the local bodies from June.