Malappuram: The Malappuram district panchayat has decided not to approach court after the Kerala government agreed to pay the pending bill for the financial 2023-24 soon. Local body officials said they have received the confirmation from the department of the local self-government. But they also said they would take the next step if the government did not keep its word.
The panchayat president and other office bearers visited the office of the minister on Thursday as a final attempt to pressurise the department to take action on the bills and they believe this has worked.

“It is a huge relief. The department will consider them as Q bills and we hope the amount will be transferred within a month. As of now, we take the promise seriously and will not move the courts,” Malappuram District Panchayat President M P Rafeekha said.

The treasury restrictions have put the local bodies in extreme crisis leaving several bills pending. Treasuries have not approved any bill submitted by the district panchayat since August 3, 2023. In March, the government ordered to pass bills below Rs 5 lakh. But officials say that this has not benefited the district panchayat as it does not have any project less than Rs 10 lakh.

“The financial management failure of the state has resulted in this severe financial crisis faced by local bodies. The treasury restrictions have affected the development work. The delay in allocating funds has also disturbed the workflow of the contractors working for the local bodies,” Malappuram District Panchayat Vice-President Ismail Moothedam said.

The government had earlier directed the local bodies to arrange the funds from the 2024-25 financial year for the projects completed in the previous financial year. However, the district panchayat objected to it saying that most of the projects for the current financial year have been decided and funds have been allocated for it. So it is not possible to appropriate funds from the present financial year for the projects done a year ago.