As usual, ITDP has no officer

The office had hit headline for negative reason seven months ago, when the ITDP officer was caught in a fraud case worth Rs 84 lakh. The functioning of the office has been hampered because either there are no candidates willing to take up the responsibility as ITDP officer here or the ones who take charge go on leave citing various reasons. Hence the post of the ITDP officer has been taken up by one or the other district level officers on deputation. The only officer to stay in the office for a long period was Sathyanarayana who worked at Mangalore ITDP for three years.

After the transfer of Sathyanarayana, the office has witnessed the transfer or change of the officers once a month. P A Ganapathy took charge of the office on September 9, 2008 only to be transferred on January 1, 2009, thus concluding his term here in four months. The next officer to take charge was S S Angady who joined the office on January 20, 2009 and was transferred on August 14, 2009.

He was replaced by P A Ganapathy who served for the second time for a period of five months. After his transfer it was S S Kale to take charge on January 20, 2010 whose term ended and was transferred in four months. He was replaced by Patalappa, the ‘famed’ officer who was involved in the fraud worth Rs 84 lakh. Patalappa worked in the office from April 27, 2010 to April 27, 2011- the day he was suspended from the work.

A new officer Ravana Reddy took charge of the office on May 2, 2011. There was expectation from this officer because he took charge at a time when the fraud-stuck ITDP needed a better hand to work. However, the officer sought voluntary transfer and left the office in merely two months of taking charge.

Now the office is looked after by Veterinary Department Deputy Director Halagappa who is in-charge of ITDP since July 2, 2011. Sources say that every time an officer is put on deputation, they cannot do justice because of the burden.

With a manager, two first division clerks and a peon, the office runs amidst all odds. Sources in the ITDP said that with the transfer of officers every now and then, it has been difficult to implement the plans and projects for the development of tribal on time.