THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Rural Kerala made headlines last fiscal by ensuring the participation of non-resident Keralites in ward-level grama sabhas through video conference whereas in Thiruvananthapuram city, the citizens’ participation has been dwindling. This negatively reflects on the number of people-oriented proposals in the budget and affects spending on sustainable projects, say senior councillors.
“My wards that used to see a footfall of between 250-300 people in each sabha now has 70 to 90 people attending. We tend to blame councillors for poor publicity. However, the indifference of young citizens in the wards to social development is evident. Wards like Kuravankonam, Pattom, Kaudiar, PTP Nagar, Medical College etc have no dearth of subject experts who talk on television discussion but none of these personalities turn up at ward-level sabhas,” said a former deputy mayor.
As per guidelines, at least one ward sabha has to be conducted every year. Ward committee meetings have to happen every three months. The citizens should discuss and suggest various proposals under sections such as health, public works and town planning. Over the years, ward sabhas primarily host residents’ association officials who come to lobby for roads. People come with personal requests like houses under LIFE scheme. However, group discussions on general conditions in the wards are overlooked, said Sankaran Kutty, a resident of Nedumcaud ward.
“A few years back, our ward meeting used to start at 1 p.m. and end at 7 p.m. Today it is scheduled at 4 p.m., starts at 5 p.m. and ends by 6 p.m. The number of first-time councillors is high in the present council. They are not sufficiently fed with ideas. For example, a retired PWD engineer in my ward could guide me well on a road work,” a councillor said.
The citizens, meanwhile, claim that there is poor publicity of ward-level sabhas. “A notice on the ward sabha pasted in front of the councillor’s office is not sufficient. They need to invest more in advertising this in the wards. Opinion leaders in their ward have to be personally contacted. It should not be a closed-door ritual of the political party that rules the ward,” said S.M. Ajith, IT professional.
