Kerala: District panels to review Public Works Department

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: PWD minister G. Sudhakaran has formed district-level committees for social auditing to bring in transparency and ensure that works in the PWD are completed in a time-bound manner.  Eventually,  state-level and  Assembly-level committees will be formed as promised in the LDF's manifesto for  the  2016 elections.  Mr  Sudhakaran had announced in the   Assembly in December that the government had decided to make social auditing mandatory in PWD. A  PWD chief engineer will take charge of maintenance of roads and buildings.  

This was implemented  in his home district in Alappuzha. Social auditing committees with experts at the state, district and constituency-levels will be appointed across the state. Mr Sudhakaran said on Monday that the district panchayat president will head the district-level committees which will include district panchayat vice-president, district panchayat PWD standing committee chairman, district municipal chairman, deputy mayor of the corporation as well as two engineers.

The tenure of  social auditing will be for three years and at least one meeting will be held every month.  Mr Sudhakaran asked all the department officials to cooperate in the inspection as part of the social auditing of roads, bridges as well as companies and buildings under the department. The report by the committees will be submitted to the government. “I should be shown the report first  before it is released to the public,” he said.