Join hands to make M'luru kerosene-free: MCC tells people

Mangaluru City Corporation Commissioner Dr H N Gopalakrishna called upon the citizens to join hands with the corporation to make Mangaluru a kerosene-free city in the next one year.

He was speaking at a programme where benefits worth Rs 68.30 lakh were distributed to 1,250 beneficiaries under various schemes of Urban Poverty Alleviation Cell of the MCC here on Monday. Gopalakrishna said that poor citizens could submit their applications to the MCC for free LPG kits under various schemes of the government.

The commissioner said that the MCC had chalked out various programmes to make Mangaluru Malaria-free. Awareness will be created among the general public to check the breeding grounds of the mosquitoes. The citizens should join hands with the local body in controlling the malaria menace, he added.

The Mangaluru city also needs to be made open defecation-free. There are around 1,500 households in the city that lack toilets. Individual toilets will also be constructed. If there is a need for any community toilet facility in the MCC limits, then it should be brought to the notice of the MCC, Gopalakrishna added.

Inaugurating the programme, MLA J R Lobo said that the welfare schemes of the government should reach the needy in the lowest strata of the society. The Congress-led State government is committed to the welfare of the people. LPG kits are being distributed to 705 beneficiaries in Mangaluru, he added. MLA Mohiuddin Bava said that title deeds for those houses, constructed illegally on government lands, will be distributed under 94 CC of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act. The State government is chalking out a plan to distribute houses to the poor in urban areas by constructing flats, he added.

MCC Community Affairs Officer Malini Rodrigues said that funds for the distribution of benefits to beneficiaries were drawn from schemes like 24.10% funds from State Finance Commission grants for the welfare of SC/ST communities in the city, 7.25% funds meant for economically backward sections of the society and 3% funds earmarked for the differently abled persons.

In all 505 beneficiaries, who suffer from more than 75 per cent disability, received stipend amounting to Rs 30.20 lakh; 25 beneficiaries received Rs 1.60 lakh for non-academic related activities. The MCC provided financial assistance of Rs 45,000 to three institutions working for the welfare of differently abled persons, four beneficiaries were given two-wheelers fitted with two additional balancing wheels.

Early Intervention Centre Minister for Health  U T Khader said the government would set up an Early Intervention Centre for children suspected to be suffering from mental illness, cerebral palsy and other birth defects, at the earliest. This will benefit the children below 18 years old. The centre, once set up, will provide all the necessary support for rehabilitating children suffering from mental illness, he added.