Central funds not utilised efficiently: Santosh Hegde
Former Lokayukta lauds NGOs for their service to society
Former Lokayukta Santosh Hegde said government funds are not being efficiently utilised and are not reaching the beneficiaries.
Speaking at the Lions Regional Conference held at J K Grounds in Mysore on Sunday, he said as per the auditing wing there are no proper records for the Rs 51,000 crore released by the Centre for implementation of eight projects in the state. The funds were released for drinking water, road, toilets and other works, he said.
While the government is slow in upgrading villages, organisations like Lions Club should be lauded for their exemplary service for the betterment of the society, he said.
DG & IGP Shankar Bidari opined that if Sir M Visvesvaraya belonged to this era, he would have surely become the prime minister and would have strived for the overall development of the country.
Replying to the felicitation at the programme, he said, although our country has a rich history, we were under slavery of smaller countries for thousands of years.
Lack of unity was the reason for this and Sir M V was able to become a dewan of Mysore samsthan. If a genius like him had born in an independent India he would have surely become a prime minister, he added.
He also advised not to fight over land and language and stay united and use available opportunities to steer ahead.
Commenting on corruption, he said it is common for corruption to raise its head in a country with people of many languages and culture lobbying for their vested interests.
The only solace is that people like Santosh Hegde and Anna Hazare are fighting to eradicate corruption from the minds of the people.
He strongly criticised the people who amass wealth more than their known sources of income and questioned whether they were saving wealth with a foresight that their next generations will be born with disabilities.
Upon turning the pages of history, one can find only leaders who preached sacrifice and patriotism like Mahatma Gandhiji, Swami Vivekananda, Subhashchandra Bose, Sardar Patel and others and not those who amassed huge wealth, he said.
Sringari Sanjeeva Shetty inaugurated the programme, Lions regional president M Sanjeeva Shetty presided over. Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement founder Dr R Balasubramanyam and others were present.
