Kizhakkambalam and Aikkaranad panchayats, ruled by non-profit organisation Twenty20, has declared a surplus of ₹25 crore and ₹12 crore respectively at the end of the financial year 2024-25.
The volume of funds is the accumulated surpluses over the past 10 years in Kizhakkambalam and over the past four years in Aikkaranad. A portion of the total surplus money will be redistributed to people under various heads, said Twenty20 president Sabu M. Jacob at a press conference here on Monday.
A release issued after the press meet said that part of the surplus funds would be used to pay 25% of the price of electricity and cooking gas in both the panchayats. It added that the surplus funds being used by the panchayats were part of the panchayats’ own revenue.
The plan is to remit 25% each of the cost of electricity and LPG directly to the accounts of consumers. Even after completing all development activities and welfare programmes, Kizhakkambalam panchayat has surplus funds, Mr. Jacob said, adding that it was the first time that there was so much surplus funds in the panchayats.
According to the Panchayat Act, a panchayat must work to eliminate poverty and raise the standard of living of people. This is a constitutional obligation on panchayats, said the release.
Though initially only 25% of electricity and LPG costs will be met from the surplus funds, the volume of support will gradually go up to 50%. All ration card holders, except those in the White Category, will benefit from the support programme, which translates into 75% of families in the panchayats benefitting from the programme.
Cancer patients in both the panchayats will get ₹1,000 each every month. Mosquito bats will be provided to all households in a bid to prevent communicable diseases, and bio-bins will be distributed to each home to achieve 100% waste management.
Families will also be given fruit trees and vegetable saplings and egg-laying hens according to their needs. Students will be provided with study tables, while the aged will get cots.
The programmes are expected to cost ₹71 crore, according to the Budget, the release said.
Twenty20 claimed that there was surplus funds as corruption had been wiped out and programmes beneficial for people were implemented with a long-term vision. The standard of roads and bridges is high so that they do not call for annual maintenance and repair. Besides, unnecessary expenditures were avoided.
In the 19-member Kizhakkambalam panchayat, 18 are members of Twenty20, while the lone Congress member, Asma Aliyar, cited reports of funds in the panchayat’s bank account. However, she said the money should be utilised for implementing welfare projects and not kept in the bank. She added that she was not aware of the way the funds would be utilised. In Aikkaranad panchayat, Twenty20 make up the entire panchayat council of 14.
The release from Twenty20 also claimed that the two panchayats had been able to create a surplus of ₹2.5 crore annually on an average.
Mini Ratheesh, president of Kizhakkambalam panchayat, and Deena Deepak, Aikkaranad panchayat president, were among those who participated in the press conference.
Published – April 01, 2025 01:24 am IST
