Bommai tells zilla panchayat CEOs to pull up socks

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday told chief executive officers of all zilla panchayats that their work is being “monitored closely” and demanded from them effective implementation of promises made in the 2022-23 budget and other government programmes.

“I will not tolerate any delay in the implementation of budget assurances. You are all under my radar,” Bommai said at the CEOs meeting.

Directing the officials to chart a roadmap for the implementation of budget promises, Bommai asked them to address delays in action plans of districts. “These action plans are not being implemented in a timely manner. Implementation period should be set for 10 months,” he said. Apparently, Bommai slammed the CEOs for being lax. “You take 12 months for works that can be done in four months,” Bommai told them, according to sources. “A zilla panchayat CEO is like the chief secretary, but you are not working like that.”

Steps should be taken to reduce malnutrition, maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate in districts hit most by the problem. Taking CEOs from the Kalyana Karnataka region to task, Bommai asked why the problem still persists despite schemes running for 30 years. Funds are being allotted under Special Development Programme and Kalyana Karnataka Regional Development Board for the purpose, he said.

On Jal Jeevan Mission, Bommai directed officials to complete the first batch of the project within a month. Works of the scheme should be expedited in Udupi, Davangere and Chikkaballapur districts.

On the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), Bommai said that geo-tagging of projects taken up under the scheme should be completed at the earliest. Three-year-old bills of materials purchased for the scheme are pending and should be cleared soon, he added.