Officials will be held responsible for not utilising grants: ZP chief

Zilla Panchayat president Geethamma has said that officials will be held responsible for not utilising the funds released for development programmes launched by the government. Speaking at a meeting on preparation of detailed project reports for various works here on Tuesday, the ZP president asked the officials to present the DPRs after eliciting the opinion of the members. She said that the government hostels in the district were in a poor state. While students are not seeking admission to the hostels owing to poor infrastructure facilities, those already staying are also leaving the hostels. There has been no improvement in the condition of hostels despite repeated directions to take steps in this regard, she noted.

Zilla Panchayat chief executive officer B B Kaveri said that the state government had released adequate funds for all the programmes. She said that the DPR should be prepared by taking the opinion of the zilla panchayat members. She said that during the current fiscal the government has released Rs 90 lakh to the Education department and this fund should be equally distributed among the six education zones. The money could be utilised only for developing government high schools.

ZP member Prakash Ramachandra pointed that it won’t be possible to use the money if it was allotted to the same school, which got the funds last year too. He wanted to know whether the funds could be utilised for the development of aided schools or any other programme. The CEO replied that it was not possible to use the money for any other purpose other than the one for which it was released. She said there had been complaints that a majority of the government schools in the district lack toilets. “Prepare a list of government schools without toilets. Construction of toilets can be taken up at a cost of Rs 45,000 in such schools,” she said.

The CEO said that developing aided schools was not the responsibility of the government. Private persons are the owners of such schools. She told the officials to submit a list of school buildings and primary health centres which need repair. The officials of the department concerned should prepare the list in consultation with Panchayat Raj Engineering Department, she said.

The CEO said that the officials of all departments should compulsorily attend the meeting called by the Zilla Panchayat president, vice president or the chief executive officer. But, nowadays, a majority of the officials are not attending the meeting. Disciplinary action will be initiated against absentee officials in the coming days, she warned. Zilla Panchayat vice president Yashoda, members Krishnappa, Aravind, deputy secretary Lakshminarayan were present in the meeting.