'State govt not bothered about people's problems'

Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Member of Parliament Shobha Karandlaje has said that the Congress-led State government has failed to reach out to the people in the State, with a lapse in implementation of social security schemes.

She was speaking after inaugurating a workshop for newly elected gram panchayat presidents and members affiliated to the BJP.

Karandlaje said that the State government implemented ambitious schemes like Anna Bhagya, but has failed to offer rice to the poor people, as it had assured. “The ministers are irresponsible and least concerned about the problems of the people in the State. The chief minister – who always ignores the problems in other districts – is incapable of understanding the grievances of the people in his own constituency,” she criticised, adding that the chief minister had come out of his comfort zone owing to the upcoming BBMP elections.

She said that under the governance of the Congress, bureaucracy too had been affected with corruption. “The Congress leaders are engaged in illegal activities as their government is an expert in making the innocent citizens scapegoats,” she said, referring to the lottery scam, wherein the police official Alok Kumar was suspended.

The Parliamentarian, urging the newly elected gram panchayat presidents and member to be catalysts between the government and the public, said that the gram Panchayat is the foundation for effective governance. Being the lowest rung in the three tier-government system, the gram panchayat can play an effective role in reaching out to the people, she explained. She said that the Modi-led government in the Centre was introducing pro-poor programmes. The gram Panchayat president and members should ensure the benefits of the welfare programmes are effectively delivered to the people, she advised.

Hygiene scheme
“There is a need for nearly 1,500 toilets in the district. Gram panchayat members should voluntarily take up surveys of houses that lack toilets – instead of depending on official statistics – in order to ensure each household in the village under their administration limits has toilets, under the Central government-initiated ‘Swacch Bharat Abhiyan’. The district has already received Rs 10.5 crore for the work and will soon receive an additional Rs 1.80 crore,” Karadlaje said.

She assured that the Central government would release Rs 110 crore for the district under the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana. “Chikkamagaluru will receive Rs 360 crore under the project. The members should make lists of houses that are deprived of power facilities, for an effective implementation of the project,” she advised.

Stating that the funds released under the 15th Finance Commission would be delivered directly to the gram panchayat to take up development works, she added that gram panchayats would get a minimum fund of Rs 25 lakh as against the earlier amount of Rs eight lakh. The urban areas would get funds up to Rs 23.68 crore under the programme, she added.