PDOs have to 'fall in line' or face attacks

Association seeks law to punish elected representatives harassing officers

It’s a trend that continues to bog them down. The State’s panchayat development officers (PDOs) are living in the constant fear of being attacked if they ‘do not turn a blind eye’ to the corrupt practices of the elected representatives.

In the last two years, ever since the government began appointing PDOs, 60 of these officers have been attacked. Consequently, a majority of them are going back to their parent departments, while three officers have committed suicide. The rest are so vulnerable that the probability of them turning a blind eye to corrupt practices is very high. Elected representatives subject the PDOs to continued “attacks, threats and harassment”.

These were some of the observations made by S Ramesh, president of the Karnataka State Panchayat Development Officers Welfare Association, at a press conference in the city on Thursday.  He cited the instance of Vatsala, a PDO in Gangavati taluk, who was allegedly assaulted by the husband and children of a member of the Koppal zilla panchayat, as she refused to create bills for works that were not undertaken. Though she registered a police complaint, no arrests have been made. Earlier, Mahesh Gowda, another PDO, was allegedly attacked by a Gram Panchayat president in Koppal district, during an inspection. Gowda fell unconscious following the incident. He has not lodged a police complaint, as he fears for his life.

Ramesh demanded that the two elected representatives be stripped of their posts immediately. He has demanded that the government should introduce a new legislation called Rural Employees Protection Act. Ramesh said the government should introduce this law, like in Gujarat, to ensure that non-bailable warrants are issued against the accused. 

He favours stripping elected representatives involved in such attacks of their posts. Ramesh said the PDOs received little cooperation from officials, including the executive officers and the chief executive officers.

He said the “already vulnerable PDOs” have the responsibility of certifying BPL and APL beneficiaries April onwards. 

The food and civil supplies department was earlier undertaking the task. 

“There are several non-beneficiaries possessing BPL cards. If we certify that they belong to APL category, we may be subjected to more threats and harassment. We want the government to rid us of this,” he said. Ramesh said the government should provide PDOs support staff like data entry operators and accounts assistants.

Of the 2,500 PDOs, there are only 2,000 in office at present. The government is finalising the recruitment of 1,358 more officers.    He said the Association would wait for the government to fulfill the demands by June 30. If it fails to do so, the members would launch a massive protest, he said.