People’s Plan in Kerala turns 30, celebratory event on August 16
The 30th anniversary of the People’s Plan campaign which revolutionised the State’s approach to decentralised governance and earned for it international acclaim will be celebrated
The 30th anniversary of the People’s Plan campaign which revolutionised the State’s approach to decentralised governance and earned for it international acclaim will be celebrated on August 16. The People’s Plan campaign was inaugurated on August 17, 1996. On August 16 this year, a conference ‘When People’s Plan Completes 30 years’ will be organised at the Government Girls’ HSS, Cotton Hill, to mark the occasion, former Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac, one of the key architects of the campaign, said here on Saturday.
The event is envisioned as a meeting of people who worked for strengthening the People’s Plan and the local self-government mechanism in general. People’s representatives, volunteers, officials of the State Planning Board, Local Self-Governments department and other departments, resource persons, coordinators thematic experts and Kudumbashree members are expected to attend. Minister for Local Self-Governments K.M. Shaji will inaugurate the event. Transport Minister C.P. John will launch a three-volume directory on the campaign.
CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan will launch a website on the movement. Designed to provide proper direction to local planning, the website also commemorates V.G. Manamohan, the former State secretary and treasurer of the Kerala Sastra Sahithya Parishad who was actively involved with the campaign. 12 parallel sessions The day-long event will also feature 12 parallel sessions on themes such as employment and regional economic development, gender justice, ageing Kerala, waste disposal, secularism and new technologies and local governance.
The event is being organised with the support of the Grameena Padana Kendram, the Kerala Sastra Sahithya Parishad, and the Dr. A. Suhruth Kumar Library. The process of decentralised planning was launched in Kerala during the Ninth Five-Year Plan period, consequent to the enactment of Kerala Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, and Kerala Municipality Act, 1994.
The BriefWire