'Govt may heed to engineers' demands'

Rural development and panchayat raj minister Jagadish Shettar on Friday asserted that the government is committed towards fulfilling the demands of engineers.

He was speaking at the valedictory of Sir M Visvesvaraya’s 151st birth anniversary organised jointly by Karnataka Engineers Association, Karnataka Engineers Service Association and Taskforce to control quality of works, in the city.

The minister promised to hold talks with the chief minister in this regard.

He said that the engineers play a key role in implementation of works at public works, water resources, urban and rural development departments. The engineers have to ensure quality, besides a visionary.

Saying that the gram panchayats are deprived of adequate funds, the minister said lot of funds has flown under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) helping undertake development works. He advised secretaries at gram panchayats and those elected to the same to use the funds judiciously.

There should be effective coordination between elected representatives, officers and engineers.

Earlier president of the Engineers Association Nagaraj put forth the demands.

Demands

It included celebration of Sir M V’s birth anniversary as Engineer’s Day by the government, besides converting the house of the engineering genius who lived in the city into a museum, residential quarters and security for engineers on field as there are instances of them facing the wrath of irate villagers, among otherswhich were also bourght the notice of CM D V Sadananda Gowda earlier on Thursday.