Poverty Reduction programmes

Poverty Profile

Though the poverty figures of the sample survey conducted by the NSSO in its 55th round amount to only 9.38% in rural and 20.27% in urban areas, the 1997 BPL census conducted by the Rural Development Department shows that it is 36.58% in rural areas and 27.8% as per the urban survey conducted by department of Urban Affairs. Interestingly the Community Based Organization of Poor created by the Kudumbashree has a membership of 32, 10,440 families. Absolute poverty, which has been the focus of attention in India, is closely linked to “simple unemployment”. From the proposition that “simple unemployment” in the state is seriously underestimated, it would follow that the magnitude of absolute poverty too is underestimated.

According to the Planning Commission’s estimate, the rural poverty ratio in Kerala went down from 25.73 percent in 1993-94 to a mere 9.4 percent in 1999-2000. But while rural poverty is officially defined in terms of a calorie norm of 2400 per person per day, these poverty percentages do not actually refer to the population falling below this norm on the two dates. They refer to the population below a “poverty line”. This “line” corresponded to the level of expenditure at which a person got 2400 calories per day in the base year, and is updated for every subsequent year by using the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers. There would be no problem with the use of this “poverty line” if it was the case that those on this line on any date were actually accessing at least 2400 calories per person per day. But the amount of calories accessed in Kerala at the “poverty lines” corresponding to the two dates mentioned above was only 1526 and 1440 respectively.

Although poverty did reduce between 1993-94 and 2004-05 the pace of poverty reduction was lower than in the previous two decades. Taking the rural and urban together, the pace of poverty reduction fell from 1.1 percent point per annum during 1973-88 to only 0.6 percent point per annum during 1987-1993 and 0.7 percent point per annum during 1993-2005. The 61st round should, therefore, set at rest all claims that economic reforms have led to faster poverty reduction.

The rather strange upshot from the various available NSS data sets used together with official price deflators is that while the period from 1989-90 to 1998 saw insignificant rural poverty reduction despite fairly high growth in measured agricultural GDP, the period after 1999-2000 is associated with significant rural poverty reduction despite stagnant agricultural growth. In conjunction with the fact that the 61st round results reported show that the annual rate of urban poverty reduction nearly halved in the period 1993-05 as compared to 1983-94, although GDP growth accelerated, there is a general indication of disassociation between GDP growth and poverty reduction in the post reform period.

Gender differences in average income from employment were very prominent. While women employees earned Rs.1185, 1146 and 3570 respectively in Primary, Secondary and Tertiary sectors, the male employees earned Rs.2560, 3510and 4216 respectively.

New Strategy of Poverty Reduction
The failure of anti-poverty programmes in the past can be attributed to the fixation of target, lack of involvement of beneficiaries, absence of poor understanding of poverty and its causes and manifestations, the top down approach and the over dependence of bureaucracy. Kerala is seeking to achieve a breakthrough in participatory poverty reduction through Kudumbashree, which is implemented by the State Poverty Eradication Mission through the local governments. All urban local governments and Village Panchayats have been included under Kudumbashree.

Kudumbashree Programmes in Rural Areas
State Poverty Eradication Mission implements this Programme by organizing the poor by creating community based structures of women below poverty line with focus on self help, demand – led convergence of available services and resources under the leadership of the Local Governments. The key components of the programmes are:

Community Based Organizations for the Poor
The Kudumbashree programme covered the entire rural area in the state formed 168157 NHGs, 15832 ADS and 999 CDS. Community Based Organizations, which has coverage of 3243395 families, mobilized a sum of Rs. 8480312526 crores as thrift fund and disbursed credit to the tune of Rs.21861166334 crores to its members. The Panchayat functionaries and CDS/ADS Office bearers were trained utilizing the plan funds for strengthening the CBOs. [District wise details are shown in Table – 1)]

Linkage Banking
The Linkage Banking Programme was launched during 2002-2003 after proper grading the NHGs as per NABARD norms. During 2002 - 03, and up to 31st October 2007, 108562 were graded and 86805 NHGs were linked with banks. A sum of Rs.48385.98lakhs has been made available to the NHGs as loan.  [Refer Table - 2)

Lease Land Farming
The Lease Land Farming programme, initiated in the rural areas during the year 2002-03, has been successfully extended to 820 Grama Panchayats. In these Panchayats 27316 NHGs consisting of 223779 families have participated in the programme.  During the year 2006-07, through this programme 46782.36 Acres of land has been brought under cultivation   [Refer Table - 3)

Bala Sabha

During 2004 - 05, Bala Sabha that intends to prevent intergenerational transmission of poverty, has been extended to the rural area also. So far, 41872 balasabhas have been formed with 728978 children.  [Refer Table- 4)

IT Enabled Services to the Poor
An innovative component in the Destitute Identification Rehabilitation and Monitoring project is the online monitoring system built in the project. As per the project, the CDS Office will be computerized in these Panchayats where the destitute rehabilitation project is taken up and the system provided would be best utilized for the benefit of the poor.

Micro Enterprises in Rural Areas
The State budget provides support to set up Micro Enterprises of Women.  It has been set up in the pattern of the SGSY. So far 3165 groups of micro enterprises of women have been set up in the rural areas. The activities are diverse and innovative in nature. Apart from this, about 1155 individual enterprises are also functioning in the rural areas.  [Refer Table - 5 & 6)

Self Sufficient, Self reliant and Sustainable CDS
The scaling up of Kudumbashree programme to rural areas has been completed and the CDS System is in vogue in all the Grama Panchayats. But still there is a lot to go to achieve the end goal of Kudumbashree. Therefore, it has been decided to develop a few Panchayats, at least one from each District as a model in poverty alleviation. With the objective of total eradication of poverty, the novel programme 'Self sufficient, Self reliant and sustainable CDS' has been launched.

Ashraya - A programme for Community based rehabilitation of destitute families
Ashraya is the first integrated programme for tackling the poorest of the poor who live at the margins of the economy, society and polity without a voice or the power of choice, with no capabilities to access entitlements - the really 'excluded'. It originated from the realization that even in a State like Kerala, the benefits of Anti-Poverty policies and programmes do not reach the absolutely poor, who constitute only about two percent of the population.

As of now, there are no schemes akin to Ashraya in India targeting the poorest of the poor. Thus, Ashraya is a pioneer, developing a model, which can be adapted by the rest of the country. Hence, special support from Government of India is expected.

The key features of the programme 'Ashraya' are:

1. It is a sub - programme of Kudumbashree, the highly successful anti - poverty mission mode
programme implemented through community-based organizations of Kudumbashree. This three - tier network organization include every poor family in the State and each family being represented by a woman.

2. These CBOs identify the poorest of the poor using socially accepted objective indicators of poverty.

3. The Grama Panchayats and Municipalities are the real planners of this project with Government playing the role of an active facilitator.

4. After transparent identification participatory plans are prepared for each destitute family on the basis of close interaction with the family members and on-site verification of details.

5. The plans are implemented by converging services and resources from different sources including PDS, Special Nutrition, Health, Remedial Education, Pensions, Basic Minimum services, Skill Development, etc. Gaps are filled up with funds from Panchayats and Municipalities with the State share being limited to 25% of the project cost or Rs.10 lakhs whichever is lower.

6. The entire programme is monitored regularly. The destitute families would be taken care of till they achieve a minimum standard of life. Thus Ashraya is not one-time assistance but is a promise of continuous support till the objective is realized.
Source: Kudumbashree, Government of Kerala

The destitute identification, rehabilitation and monitoring as a composite programme is an extension of the poverty eradication mission of Kudumbashree through the Community based Organizations of poor. The Mission has rekindled their hope and sensitized the Local Self Government institutions about their new roles in focussed poverty eradication through community development.

The Destitutes 
The destitutes are the poorest of the poor. They are the outliers of the development scenario in the negative extreme. They live at the margins of the economy, society and polity. They do not have a voice or the power of choice. They face the worst forms of deprivation and lack of access to the minimum services. They are exposed to all forms of vulnerability and do not have any safety net against risks. Their income is below subsistence and they are dependent. These faceless, powerless people lack capabilities and are neither aware of their entitlements nor can they access them. They neither compete nor bargain. They drift pushed by circumstances. Severity of destitution is by unfavorable physical gender or caste status. That is, disability being a disabled, being a widow, belonging to a scheduled caste or tribe can singly or in combination aggravate the suffering. The collapse of the traditional social support systems has orphaned the destitutes. They are sometimes objects of charity. But they are never subjects of development. They have to be invested with identity, personality and empowered to stand on their own. Only an Antyodaya approach can reach them. Only care and support can lift them. They can develop only after a period of well - targeted well - designed welfare.

Identification of Destitute families
The destitute families are identified following the 9-point indices developed by the State Poverty Eradication Mission.

Rural
1. No Land /Less than 10 cents of Land
2. No house/Dilapidated House
3. No Sanitary Latrine
4. No access to safe drinking water within 300 meters
5. Women headed house hold/ Presence of a widow, divorcee / abandoned lady/ Unwed mother
6. No regularly employed person in the family
7. Socially Disadvantaged Groups (SC/ST)
8. Presence of Mentally or physically challenged person / chronically ill Member in the family
9. Families with an illiterate adult member

The identification is done transparently through the Neighborhood Groups (NHG) network of Kudumbashree. The members of Neighborhood Groups belong to poor families but need not be destitute. At the same time, since the members of Neighborhood Groups belong to a specific geographical area, they know who all the specified destitute families within their Neighborhood are better than anyone else. The preparation of Micro Plan using the Risk Indices and problem identification mechanism also enables them to identify the destitute families in their vicinity.

Samagra - Local Production Marketing Network
Samagra is an innovative programme independently evolved by Kudumbashree incorporating Rural Business Hub initiative launched by Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India and micro enterprise development activities of Kudumbashree. In general Samagra means comprehensive development job. This is an all inclusive programme encompassing all the components from production to marketing, helping the people involved to derive maximum possible income and thereby improving the returns from livelihood of the people in that area.

This programme is to be implemented by involving all the agencies working in that area under the leadership of the local government with the following objectives:-
• Productivity improvement
• Quality enhancement
• Product diversification
• Ensuring market for the produce
• Increased people participation
• Increased women participation
• Poverty reduction
• Capacity Building

Market Interventions of Kudumbashree
The State Poverty Eradication Mission - Kudumbashree and the Local Self Governments have jointly taken up a comprehensive study during September/October 2006 on the socio economic impact of Micro enterprises created the Local Self Governments and various Government departments and agencies including Kudumbashree. It revealed that in many of the LSGs the marketing of products of Kudumbashree micro enterprises and Kudumbashree NHGs are facing difficulty. The lack of market for the products and the inability to compete against standard products is an important factor on sustainability of the enterprise. To meet this challenge the state Poverty Eradication Mission decided to set up Monthly markets in each district on a specified days and venue. The entrepreneurs are given opportunity to bring their products and directly sell to the customers. It has facilitated increased production and efforts at standardization of product quality and presentation by entrepreneurs. The monthly markets held from October 2007 to December 2007 attracted 2,463 entrepreneurs and had a turnover of Rs. 45,95,838/-. The monthly market of Kudumbashree was begun as a preliminary to the setting up of innovative market centered in each Grama Panchayat/Municipality exclusively for the products of enterprises created under the leadership of LSGs.

Other major Poverty Alleviation Pogrammes
Other major Poverty Reduction Programmes implemented in the state through Panchayat Raj Institutions are Swarnajayanthi Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)

» Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)
The objective of the programme is to provide self employment to the poor establishing a large number of micro enterprises in the rural areas building upon the potential of the rural poor. Emphasis will be given to group approach in this programme. 

(1) The objective of SGSY is to uplift every assisted family above the poverty line within three years time. SGSY is conceived as a holistic programme of micro enterprises covering all aspects of self employment viz. Formation of self-help groups, capacity building, and planning activity clusters infrastructure buildup, technology, credit and marketing.

(2) This Programme will adopt a project approach in each key activity. SGSY is a credit cum subsidy programme where credit forms the critical component. This programme lays emphasis on skill development through training courses. It also proposes to ensure technology up gradation in identified activity clusters. 

(3) Subsidy under SGSY will be uniform at 30% of the project cost subject to maximum of Rs. 7500/-. In respect of SC/STs this will be 50% and Rs. 10,000/-respectively. For group Swarozgaris the subsidy would be at 50% of the project cost subject to per capita subsidy of Rs. 10,000/- of Rs. 1.25 lakhs whichever is less. There will be no limit on subsidy for irrigation projects. The programme expects at least 50% of the Swarozgaris to be SC/STs, 40% to be women and 3% to be disabled.

The allocation and release of the scheme for the years 2006-07 and till the end of November 2007 are indicated below:

Total amount of subsidy and credit disbursed to SHGs and individual swarozgaris during 2006-07 and up to the month of November 2007-08 are as follows:

A total numbers of 1395 SHGs, started economic activities, covering 18089 members during 2006-07 and in the case of individual swarozgaries, the coverage is 5022. During the current financial year up to the month of November 2007, 757 enterprises covering 9522 members and 2815 swarozgaris were benefited by the programmes as shown in Table 9.

Indira Awas Yojana (IAY)

The objective of Indira Awas Yojana is to help construction of dwelling units by members of SC/ST, freed bonded labourers and also non-SC/ST, rural poor below poverty line by providing them with grant-in-aid @ Rs. 27,500/- per house. This is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme sharing cost between Centre and State in the ratio of 75:25. 

The beneficiaries of the scheme are selected by Grama Sabhas, having at least two cents of land for house construction. They should not have dwelling units fit for occupation. The assistance is sanctioned to the female members of the family or in the joint name of husband and wife. House constructed under the scheme should have not less than 20 sq.mts of plinth area but no plans or design is prescribed.

Out of the total allocation for Indira Awas Yojana, up to 20% of the total funds can be utilized for up gradation of existing kutcha houses and towards subsidy for construction of houses with credit from Banks/Financial Institutions. The maximum assistance available is Rs. 12,500/- per family.

The Physical achievements during 2006-07 & up to the month of November 2007-08 are as follows:

Financial achievement under SGSY, IAY, JGSY, EAS/SGRY

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana  (PMGSY)
Government of India has launched the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana on 25th December 2000.  The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is a 100% Centrally Sponsored Scheme.  50% of the cess on High Speed Diesel (HSD) is earmarked for this Programme.
The primary objective of the PMGSY is to provide connectivity, by way of an All-Weather Road  to the unconnected habitations in the rural areas, in such a say that habitations with a population of 1000 persons and above are covered in three years (2000-2003) and all unconnected habitations with a population of 500 persons and above by the end of the Tenth Plan Period (2007).

A Core Network is that minimal Network of roads (routes) that is essential to provide basic access to essential socio economic services to all eligible habitations in the selected areas through at least single all-weather road connectivity. It should be ensured that each roadwork that is taken up under the PMGSY is part of the Core Network. The PMGSY shall cover only the rural areas. The PMGSY envisages only single road connectivity.

Provision of connectivity to unconnected habitations would be termed as New connectivity.  Up gradation, when permitted would typically involve conversion from Gravel or Water Bound Macadam (WBM) stage to the desired technical specifications or widening of the roads, subject to traffic studies.  Provision of Cross Drainage (CD) works alone would also be treated as up gradation under PMGSY.

Rural Development Department is the nodal agency for implementation of the programme in the State. The programme is under implementation in 55 Blocks spread over all the 14 districts.  PMGSY is a 100% centrally sponsored scheme at present.   Government of India has released Rs 13697.00 lakhs since the inception of the scheme. The total fund available including interest is Rs.13788.56 lakhs. Out of this Rs 11495.09 Lakhs has been spent up to the month of October 2007. 

Scheme under National Rural Employment Guarantee Act- 2005
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 seeks to enhance the livelihood security of the households in rural areas of the country by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage- employment to every house hold whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

Every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work would be entitled to get registered with the Grama Panchayat and get a job card.  They may submit their names, age and the address of the household to the Grama Panchayat at the village level for issuance of a job card.  It shall be the duty of the Grama Panchayat to register the household, after making such enquiry as it deems fit and issue a job card containing such details of adult members of the household affixing their photographs.

Every registered household would be entitled to at least 100 days guaranteed employment at the wage rate.  The act provides that the wage rate specified from time to time under any such notification shall not be at a rate less than sixty rupees per day.

Every eligible applicant, subject to the household entitlement, is entitled to get work within 15 days for as many days as he/she applies.  Applications for work must be for at least fourteen days of continuous work.  A period of employment shall ordinarily be at least fourteen days continuously with not more than six days in a week.

If the eligible applicant is not provided employment within 15 days of receipt of applications or from the date from which the applicant seeks employment (in the advance applications), he or she shall be entitled to a daily unemployment allowance, in cash.

The central government will provide 90% of funds and State Governments will provide for 10% of the total funds. The details of registration and job cards issued on 2007-08 upto November 2007 are depicted in the table format.

Wages and payments
Not less than Rs. 60 per day per person (the minimum wage in  Kerala is Rs.125). Minimum wages fixed for agricultural labourers by the respective State Governments will be paid as wages under the schemes till such times that the central Governments, specifies wage rate which will not be less than Rs. 60 per day per person.  Wages will be paid fully in cash/partly in cash and partly in kind. However minimum 25% wages shall be paid in cash.  Wages are to be paid on weekly basis and in any case not later than 15 days.

The EGA is a unique opportunity to activate and empower the Panchayat Raj institution including Grama Panchayat and Grama Sabhas and it will give the scope for meaningful employment generation resulting in reduction of poverty in rural areas.

Employment generation under NREGA...... Refer Table 15 & 16)

The major responsibility for programme implementation has been given to the Panchayat Raj institutions
The NREG Act, 2005 gives priority for water harvesting and water conservation, drought proofing including afforestation and plantation, construction of irrigation canals, micro and minor irrigation works and provision of irrigation facilities to land owned by Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Renovation of traditional water bodies, land development and rural connectivity has also to be given priority in the Annual Works Programme that is to be prepared by the implementing agencies.

Government of India issued the notification on 2.2.2006 to launch National Rural Employment Guarantee Act for 200 selected districts in the country. The act will be extended to the whole Kerala by April 2008

Special Features of Kerala implementation

Urban Poverty Reduction Programmes

1. Swarna Jayanthi Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)
Swarna Jayanthi Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme launched in December 1997.  It is shared 75:25 basis by both Central and State Governments. The objective of this integrated poverty alleviation programme is to provide gainful employment to the urban unemployed and under employed poor by setting up of self employment ventures and taking up of wage employment in public works. The programme is being implemented by the Urban Local Bodies through Community Based Organization (CBOs) of the poor.

SJSRY has the following 3 components

Urban Self Employment Programame: Urban Self Employment Programame (USEP) assists individual urban poor for setting up gainful self employment ventures. The project cost is Rs. 50,000 per individual but if two or more eligible persons join together in a partnership, higher project cost is allowed, provided individual share does not exceed Rs. 50,000. Subsidy is provided at the rate of 15 % of the project cost subject to a maximum of Rs. 7500 per beneficiary. Beneficiary share is 5% of the project cost either in cash or in kind or both. Out of the total project cost, 80% is sanctioned as loan by financial institutions including Banks and Thrift and Credit Societies. A house to house survey for identification of genuine beneficiaries is being done. Now economic Para methods are to be applied to identify the urban poor. Women beneficiaries belonging to widows, divorcees, single women, where women are the sole earners is to be ranked higher in priority. Not less than 30% of the beneficiaries should be women, 3% to be reserved for disabled and Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribe beneficiaries are given special attention in proportion of their strength in the local population.

Development of women and children in urban Areas
Development of women and children in urban Areas (DWCUA) assist the urban poor women for starting gainful employment through group activity. The scheme is extended to the poor women of urban areas who decide to set up self employment enterprise as a group. Minimum number of a group is fixed as 10. The project cost is Rs. 25 lakhs or less. The DWCUA group is given a subsidy of Rs. 1.25 lakh or 50% of the project cost whichever is less. To ensure the contribution of members, 5% of the project cost is brought as their share, either in cash or in kind or as both and 45% of the project cost is as bank loan.

These programmes are being implemented by the Urban Local Bodies through Community Based Organizations (CBOs) of the poor. Community Organizations like Neighborhood Groups (NHGs), Neighborhood Communities (NHCs) and Community Development Societies (CDSs) are set up at the target areas based on the Urban Basic Services for the Poor (UBSP) pattern. Identification of beneficiaries, Selection of Projects for micro enterprises, preparation of application, implementation, monitoring, social audit etc. are done through the community Development Society (CDS) system of the respective Urban Local Bodies.

Kudumbashree has organized Community Based Organization (CBOs) of the poor in all the 53 municipalities and 5 Corporations in the State. There are 13279 Neighborhood Groups (NHGs) covering 347545 BPL families, 1090 Area Development Societies (ADSs) and 59 Community Development Societies (CDSs). The CBOs in the urban areas act also as Thrift and Credit Societies and facilitate savings and credit to the poor. In 2007, the CBOs in urban areas mobilized thrift fund to the tune of Rs. 5232.09 lakhs and disbursed loan worth Rs. 6130.59 lakhs. District wise details of NHGs, ADSs, CDSs and Thrift Fund mobilized are shown here.

Under the SJSRY, so far Kudumbashree have developed 22488 micro enterprises of which 1889 units are group enterprises (each group with minimum 10 women) and 20599 are individual enterprises. Most of the group enterprises are innovative and are owned and operated by the women from poor families. Details of micro enterprises and group enterprises are given in Table 18 and 19.

The activities of group enterprises include solid waste management, computer hardware manufacturing, post-partum care, data entry operation, health care, courier service, remedial education programme etc.

2. Integrated Housing & Slum Development Programme (IHSDP)

Integrated Housing and slums Development Programme (IHSDP) is launched during 2006-07 for housing and infrastructure development in urban slums by combining the centrally sponsored schemes of Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY) and National Slum Development Programme (NSDP). IHSDP is to be implemented in all towns and cities identified as per 2001 census except cities/towns covered under JNNURM. (Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi corporations)

The basic objective of the scheme is to strive for holistic slum development with a healthy and enabling urban environment by providing adequate shelter and basic infrastructure facilities to the slum dwellers of the identified urban areas. The components for assistance under the scheme will include slum improvement/upgradation/relocation of projects including upgradation/ new construction of houses and infrastructural facilities, like water supply and sewerage. Cost of land for such projects will not be provided under the programme and has to be borne by the State Government. Housing should not be provided as free to the beneficiaries by the State Government. A minimum of 12% beneficiary contribution should be stipulated, which in the case of SC/ST/BC/OBC/PH and other weaker sections shall be 10%. Minimum floor area of dwelling unit is not less than 25 sq.mtrs. Ceiling cost for dwelling unit will be @ Rs.80000 per unit for cities other than those covered under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

The funding pattern of IHSDP is 80:20 shared by Central and State Governments. The State share (20%) would be equally shared by (10% each) the State government and the participating Urban Local Self Governments. Kudumbashree is the Nodal Agency for IHSDP. Central assistance released will go directly to the nodal agency as Additional Central Assistance. Release of central share to nodal agency will depend on availability of state share and submission of utilization certificates in accordance with the provisions of General Financial Rules. State share has to be deposited in a separate account to become eligible for the central grant. 50% of the central grant will be released to the State Nodal Agency after verification of the state share and on signing the tripartite Memorandum of Agreement.

During 2006-07, 15 projects were approved by GOI with a total project cost of Rs.6403.12 lakh and for 2007-08, 7 projects were approved with a total project cost of Rs.3918.08 lakh. Details of projects approved by GOI during 2006-07 and 2007-08 are given in Table 22.

3. Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP)

Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) is a sub-component of JNNURM and implemented through Kudumbashree. Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi Corporations alone come under the scheme. The objective of the scheme is to provide basic services to the urban poor viz. housing, solid waste management, water supply, improvement of slums, construction and improvements of drains/storm water drains, sewerage, drainage, street lighting, health care etc.

The financing pattern of BSUP for Thiruvananthapuram is 80:20 and that of Kochi is 50:50 by the Government of India and State Government. Also a minimum share of 10-12% is stipulated as beneficiary share for individual benefits such as housing.

During 2006-07, projects having total cost of Rs.68.94 crore were approved. Of these Rs.42.33 crore is for Thiruvananthapuram and Rs.26.61 crore for Kochi Corporation. In 2007-08 projects having cost of Rs. 125.43 crore is approved for Thiruvananthapuram and Rs.104.45 crore for Kochi Corporation. Details of projects sanctioned under BSUP for the two Corporations during 2006-07 are given in Table 23, 24 and 25)