'Govt spending Rs 7,500 cr on pension schemes'

Revenue Minister R Ashoka inaugurated Ponnampet taluk in Kodagu on Sunday.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that Ponnampet taluk was a long pending demanding of the people of the region. Geographically, the new taluk has an area of 1,200 square kilometres and has 21 Gram Panchayats.

The government has sanctioned 12 posts for the new taluk. The residents from Ponnampet had to travel two to three hours to reach Virajpet. The new taluk will also help in easy governance, he said.

The government has responded to the needs of the people, added Ashoka.

Stating that the government is spending Rs 7,500 crore for social security pension schemes, the minister said that the linking of Aadhaar of the beneficiaries, for the pension account, has helped to check misuse of money. Several bogus pensioners names have been deleted.

The minister said that Rs 15 crore has been released to the district to tackle issues related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

An amount of Rs 18 crore has been released to be given as compensation for the loss of crops and Rs 10 crore has been released for the Madikeri Fort, he added.

Siddaramaiah had been stating that the BJP government has no money for the welfare programmes. However, the deputy commissioner’s account has Rs 67 crore, said the revenue minister.

There is no shortage of funds for development works in the district. Once the economy recovers, the development works will get accelerated, added the minister.

The minister also announced that Kushalnagar taluk will be officially inaugurated in one month’s time. Funds will be released for basic facilities.

MLA K G Bopaiah said that Nagarika Horata Samithi had been demanding the new taluk. The Horata Samithi members have raised funds for the furniture of the tahsildar’s office.

There was a technical glitch in the announcement of Kushalnagar taluk. A permanent tahsildar should be appointed for Ponnampet taluk, he appealed.

MLA M P Appachu Ranjan appealed the minister to release Rs 10 crore for the development of Ponnampet and Kushalnagar taluks.