“I will chop you off if you don’t perform. You will not be here by May if you don’t obey my orders,” said A Narayanaswamy, the district in-charge minister, to officials at a progress review meet in the Zilla Panchayat.
Narayanaswamy, who seemed to have lost his composure, said the officials who fail to discharge their duties properly bring dishonour to politicians.
He said: “I will reprimand the officials who were absent for the review meetings at zilla and taluk levels. If officials fail to obey my order and complete work within a month, none of you will be in the district by May.”
Narayanaswamy said he was aware of the laxity of some officials and would take stringent action against them soon. The officials who have been regularly absent for the review meetings, have failed to implement the projects and utilise the grants released for development work.
The officials are the bridge between the government and citizens.
They are not even responding to the complaints by the elected representatives and the public on various problems. “The district has lagged behind due to apathy of the officials,” he fumed.
He cautioned the tahsildar and the executive officers that they would be held responsible for failure of their subordinate officials.
In a fit of rage the minister seemed short of words in Kannada and switched to Telugu for ‘abusing’ the officials.
The schemes, including Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, and supply of drinking water and power were discussed during the meet.
Zilla Panchayat President M V Krishnappa, Vice President B Savithramma, Deputy Commissioner Dr N Manjula, Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer B S Shekharappa were present on the occasion.
Shortage of chairs
There was a problem of seating at the progress review meeting, with a large number of officials from various departments taking part.
Many officers and mediapersons had no place to sit. The ZP staff said there were not enough chairs and also not enough space for all of the chairs to be placed in the meeting hall.
Officials of the departments of senior citizens welfare and disabled welfare had to stand outside. Chairs placed at the entrance proved an hindrance.