Mararikulam South Grama Panchayat Mararikulam South Grama Panchayat is situated in the coastal district of Alapuzha. The legend on how the place got its name is related to Lord Shiva. The story speaks about how a women was sharpening her sickle on a rock on the banks of a pond ( kulam) when blood started flowing from the stone which was actually a Shiva linga. Later someone enshrined the said Shiva linga ( marari) near the pond (kulam) and hence the place came to be known as Mararikulam. Historically, the place was of importance as a key point in sea route trade. Huge ships from foreign countries used to come to its shore for trade. Prawns, coconut, oil, dried fish etc were exported and clothes and ornaments were imported. The panchayat was formed in 1953. Geographic details District : Alapuzha Total area : 19.07 sq.kms. Boundaries: South : Ariad Grama Panchayat 1 West : The Arabian Sea North : Mararikulam North Grama Panchayat East : Ariad, Manacheri Panchayats Number of wards : 23 Demographic details (2001 census) Population Total 51101 Male 24874 Female 26227 Child Population (0-18 years) 7262 The schedule caste population Total 1826 Male 843 Female 983 Schedule tribe population Total 152 Male 70 Female 82 Literacy rate Overall 95% Male 97% Female 92% Mararikulam South Grama Panchayat is a coastal area. The main occupations of the people are fishing and coir making. Agriculture, specifically cultivation of rice, is also an important occupation. Women are employed mainly in the coir industry. Some are involved in the marketing of fish. These women are either self employed or daily wage earners. In the private sector, they work as salesgirls in the retail shops. Women who are housewives are often involved in cultivation of vegetables and rearing of cattle but these women describe themselves as unemployed and not as small scale farmers. Almost all the girls below the age of 18 attend school. 2 Elected members Total : 23 Men : 10 Women : 13 Scheduled Caste : 1 President : Sri. N.P.Snehajan Vice President : Smt. Sheela Suresh Standing Committee Chairpersons Development : Sri. C.S.Babu Welfare : Smt. Kala Health and education : Smt. M.G.Prasanna Members : 1) Smt. Sosamma Louis 2) Smt. Sreedevi 3) Smt. Minimol 4) Sri.T .M. Raju 5) Smt. Prasanna Ramachandran 6) Sri. P. V. Sathyaneshan 7) Sri. M.C. Sethunath 8) Sri. Xaviour Mathew 9) Smt. Gracy Stephen 10) Sri .Anandan T. V 11) Sri. Micheal Jackson P. A. 12) Smt.Sofia 13) Smt. K. G . Asha 14) Smt. K.S. Jaya 15) Sri. Sasidaran P. V 16) Smt. Sreekumari V. R. 17) Smt. Rosamma Sebastian 18) Sri. Jackson K .J. 3 Fund Details 2011-12 Mararikulam south Grama Panchayath Plan fund –General 12961308 SCP 6709186 TSP 323000 General Purpose 8185956 Maintenance Fund Road 1486000 Non Road 2583988 Others 13th Finance Commission 4730000 Special Grant 1500000 World Bank Assistance 2042000 Sectoral allocation of funds 1) Productive Sector Implementing Officer Fund Allocated Fund Spent Asst. Engineer 2238727 2155012 Veterinary Surgeon 2111798 1401495 Diary Farm Instructor 500000 500000 SI Fisheries 416000 366000 Total 5266525 4422507 2) Infrastructure Sector Fund Allocated Fund Spent 5209086 3402017 3) Service Sector Implementing Officer Allocation Spent VEO 8301503 4941823 ICDS 2642605 2642605 HM 1767802 1764987 MO PHC 450000 438853 MO HOMEO 300000 300000 SECRETARY 4573208 4229688 Total 18035118 14317956 4 In the service sector, some of the projects were the following: Project Implementing officer Funds utilized Purchase of medicine ( Homeo) MO ( Homeo) 100000 Purchase of medicine ( Ayurveda) MO 200000 Medical camp to detect illness in women MO (CHC) 50000 Control of life style diseases MO 50000 Purchase of ultra sound scanning machine MO 300000 Palliative care MO 50000 Awareness creation on drug addiction MO 50000 Scholarship for differently abled children ICDS Supervisor 140560 Jagratha Samithi ICDS Supervisor 25000 Balakairali ( pre-school) HM (LPS) 742000 Physical and mental health for girls in public schools HM 400000 Institutions transferred to the Panchayat 1) Krishi Bhavan ( Agriculture office) 2) Veterinary hospital 3) Rural Health Training Center (RHTC) 4) Dispensary Ayurveda 5) Dispensary Homeo 6) Village Extension Office, Kattoor 7) Village Extension Office, Sarvodayapuram 8) Village Extension Office, Valavanadu 9) 51 aganwadis under ICDS 10) Village office, Pathirapally 11) Village office, Kalavoor 12) Sub- registrar office 13) Kerala State Electricity Board office, Pathirapally 14) Kerala State Electricity Board office, Kalavoor 15) Kerala Water Authority 5 Other institutions in the Panchayat These include three High schools, two Upper Primary school and three Lower Primary schools, Private institutions include DC Mills, HOMCO, Excel glasses, Socio- Economic Unit, Fish cluster center, three milk societies, etc. Staff pattern of the Panchayat Secretary ( special grade) : 1 Junior Superientent : 1 Accountant : 1 U.D. Clerk : 4 L.D. Clerk : 5 Peon : 2 Full time sweeper : 1 Part time sweeper : 3 MNREG wing Accredited engineer : 1 Accountant cum Data Entry Operator : 1 Staff Pattern of Transferred Institutions: 1. Krishibhavan Agriculture Officer 1 Agriculture Assistant 2 PTS 1 2. Veterinary Hospital Doctor 1 Livestock Inspector 1 PTS 1 3. Homeo Dispensary Doctor 1 Attender 1 4. Matsyabhavan Sub inspector of Fisheries 1 6 5. Assistant Engineer Office Assistant Engineer 1 Overseer 2 6. Village Extention Officers 3 7. Dairy Farm Instructor 1 8. ICDS Supervisor 1 9. Ayurveda Dispensary(NRHM) Doctor 1 PTS 1 Details of plan intervention in child development sector Constitution of women and child development working group Chairperson : Kala ( Welfare committee chairperson) Convener : Vilasini ( ICDS Supervisor) Members : Indira Thilakan ( Kudumbasree CDS chairperson) : Usha Kumari (Kudumbasree CDS member) : Sujatha Chandralal ( Social worker) : Prasanna ( Health Standing Sommittee member) : Sheela Suresh ( Panchayat Vice President) Special programs for women and children Women Friendly Grama Panchayath program Mararikulam South Grama Panchayath is transforming to be a safe place for women and children, where they could move freely, fearlessly and live with dignity. The panchayath is making remarkable progress in implementing effective programmers for women empowerment. Scientific studies reveal that most of the individuals who are vulnerable to abuse are below the age of 18.In the light of these findings, the Panchayath which is having 10 balakairaly preschools, 51 anganwadies and 8 public schools covering around 7262 children, is functioning as a safety net for protecting them. The Process Small gatherings of NHG (582 NHG in 200 different places) were conducted, which provided women a platform for sharing their sufferings. Based on this, an innovative project for “the promotion of physical and mental health of children in government schools” was formulated. The project emphasized effective strategies for protecting children below the age of 18. 7 Interventions for girls The panchayat is providing training in martial arts for promoting mental power among children. In addition to this, life skill training is also arranged to help children to engage in healthy relationships and to be assertive. Also the panchayat has arranged measures for detecting anemia among children with the help of community medicine department of Medical College, Alapuzha. Also it is providing aerobic training in LP and UP sections. Interventions for Boys The panchayat has formulated various activities for boys to protect them from various addictions such as alcohol, drugs, internet, mobile phone etc. Interventions for parents The panchayat gave training to parents in the area to ensure the security of the children. PTA at schools rendered their active participation by promoting project activities at school level Parents meeting were conducted in all Balakairalies, and Anganwadis Crime Map 600 small gatherings having 26 families each were formed in every ward. In these gathering the women recorded secretly various atrocities that they had experienced during the past three months and deposited in a sealed box. They marked various places in the panchayats where they fear to go alone. 4681 women responded to this process and based on this survey a crime map and issue map were prepared. Professional counseling service A professional counselor has been appointed by the panchayat under this project. Her service is available to every school in the panchayat once a week Kudumbasree Kudumbasree is an unique women self-help group system which covers the whole of Kerala. Mararikulam South Grama Panchayat has 584 NHGs which have 9292 members, out of which 7230 members belong to BPL families. 304 belong to SC families and 24 belong to ST families. Kudumbasree net work was made use of extensively for the ‘women friendly panchayat’ initiative. It was involved in preliminary data collection, training of facilitators, volunteers, etc. Apart from that Kudumbasree also has several income generation programs. For eg: bag making unit, umbrella making unit. 8 VELLUKKARA Grama Panchayat Velukkara has a very ancient tradition. It is believed that “Agasthya Muni” had his Holy Meditation in Avittathur around 2000 years back.. Velukkara Grama panchayath is in Vellangallor Block panchayath at Thrissur District. It includes four revenue villages namely, Kottanelloor,Velukkara, Kaduppassery and a part of Manavilassery It has a geographical area of 26.67 square kilometer. Demographic details (2001 census) Population Total 25571 Male 12100 Female 13471