Kozhikode Corporation Council passed 1,137 spillover projects for the financial year 2024-25 on July 24.
Deputy Mayor C.P. Musafar Ahamed said the projects had already been approved by the council in the previous year, but could not be executed due to technical reasons.
The UDF councillors questioned the large number of projects that had been left unimplemented in the previous year and thus the Corporation’s ability to complete the projects envisioned. They alleged that several projects had been repeated over the years, some spilled over twice or thrice. “The project to provide cots to the elderly has been in the plan for years, but it has not been executed. Many elderly people who had been shortlisted under the project are no more,” said Congress councillor K. Nirmala.
Another Congress councillor, S.K. Aboobakker, pointed out that there were around six projects concerning the dumping ground at Njeliyanparamba and suggested that the Corporation should come up with a bigger and comprehensive project for Njeliyanparamba instead of smaller ones. The project for a Buds school for differently abled children in the city had been pending for three years was also pointed out by several councillors.
The Deputy Mayor said the Corporation had completed 76% of the projects from previous years. However, they were not visible in records as most bills had not been passed owing to treasury restrictions. The model code of conduct in place during the earlier part of the year had stalled implementation of a few projects. “Expenditure index does not determine performance. We have effectively used last year’s maintenance grant,” he added.
He directed the standing committees and implementing officers to revise the projects based on their viability. Thus the projects unlikely to be implemented would be removed from the list.
Mayor Beena Philip, who chaired the session, said she would raise issues faced by the Corporation at the Mayors’ meeting to be held on July 25.
