Mayor denies corruption in Kudumbashree projects

KOZHIKODE: The Left Democratic Front (LDF) councilors in the corporation alleged that the United Democratic Front (UDF) is trying to scuttle Kudumbashree saying that the self-help group is involved in various corrupt practices in executing projects like e-shop, Food on Wheels and Dress Bank.
Refuting allegations, mayor A K Premajam said here on Monday that the e-shop project was included in the annual budget for the financial year 2013-2014.The project was prepared based on the guidelines of Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY).
Mayor said the civic body has decided to set up e-shops near the electronic toilets to entrust the Kudumbashree members to run these units.
"The civic body had also entrusted a Thiruvanathapuram-based Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt Ltd to set up shops based on the recommendation submitted by the corporation's Kudumbashree project officer to the social welfare standing committee," said the mayor.
"The council meeting held on October 26, 2013 had unanimously passed the recommendation. The meeting on February 28, 2014 approved the list of beneficiaries and places recommended by the standing committee," said the mayor.
She said the UDF is trying to create misunderstanding among the public.
The civic body has given details about the products selling through e-shops and the same had been mentioned in the council file.
Mayor said the civic body had set up a help desk and kiosk of the Kudumbashree after receiving complaints of exorbitant fee charged for filing various applications.
She said the civic body had decided to launch the Food on Wheels project based on a suggestion given by the minister for social justice and panchayat M K Muneer.