JOIN USCongress leaders will tour drought-hit regions in the State between September 3 and 10 to assess the situation, said Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president G Parameshwara on Monday.
Talking to reporters, he said four teams headed by Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah, Leader of the Opposition in the Council S R Patil, MLA D K Shivakumar and himself will take up a State-wide tour to check if funds for drought-relief measures are utilised well.
After completing the tour, reports of the four teams will be compiled and submitted to both the State and Central governments on September 15.
Also the party will take up a political tour on the lines of Panchajanya tour in 1999. The month-long tour will be taken up by party leaders in all districts, he said. During the tour which is likely to begin on October 2, failures of the State government and the party’s future programmes will be highlighted, he added.
Garbage menace
Parameshwara demanded that the government supersede the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), as it had failed to clear garbage in Bangalore.
Congress leader R V Deshpande, earlier in the day, slammed the State government for not handling the garbage menace effectively.
He also asked Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who had “failed to take cognisance” of the garbage crisis, to tour the City.
Deshpande also noted that the government was making baseless allegations against the Centre on the issue of fund release for drought-relief measures.
So far, the Centre has released Rs 66.55 crore under the Calamity Relief Fund and Rs 352.58 crore under National Disaster Relief Fund, he said.
“However, the amount released to deputy commissioners in the State is only Rs 283 crore,” Deshpande added.