more-in The civic administrators of Kochi, who have come under fire for failing to effectively utilise the Plan funds, exuded confidence that the local body would achieve the spending targets shortly. The LDF-led Opposition members slammed the civic administration for what they termed as the lackadaisical attitude towards planning and execution of projects. The city was trailing behind most of the corporations in the State in utilising the funds. The civic body failed to adhere to the timetable provided by the State government for completing the planning of works and executing them, the LDF councillors alleged. K.J. Antony, the LDF leader in the council, criticised that the civic administrators were not keen in implementing projects. A few crucial meetings of the committees for the implementation of projects had to be postponed as Mayor Soumini Jain was abroad, he alleged. Intensifying the attack on the administrators, V.P. Chandran, the CPI(M) leader in the council, said the civic administration was engaged in a blame-game and was taking a position inimical to the State government. The irresponsible attitude of the civic administrators and the administrative failure together did the local body in, he said. Poornima Narayan, Chairperson of the Eduction Standing Committee, claimed that around 75% of the allotted funds were utilised by the committee. The shortage of staff, especially the absence of the implementing officer and clerical staff, hampered the activities of the committee. The committee might be able to utilise the funds allotted to it in the coming days, she said. The arguments of Deputy Mayor T.J. Vinod that the hitches following the introduction Goods and Service Tax and the four-month-long strike of the contractors of the civic body did the damage failed to convince the Opposition councillors. Mr. Vinod contended that the restrictions on clearing the bills in the State treasury and the reluctance of the contractors to take up projects have reflected in the performance of the civic body. However, the civic body may be able to achieve the desired spending targets. A portion of the unused funds of the civic body could be deposited as the share of it in the Centrally-supported projects such as Smart City and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, he said. Those who took part in the discussion included A.B. Sabu, Chairman of the Welfare Standing Committee, councillors K.J. Prakasan, M. Premachandran and Thampi Subramanian.

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