Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education Kimmane Ratnakar has said that the list of beneficiaries prepared for 2014-14 for the special housing scheme of Rajiv Gandhi Rural Housing Corporation in the district should be reviewed.
Mr. Ratnakar was speaking at a meeting at the zilla panchayat here on Saturday to review the progress of implementation of the Karnataka Development Programmes.
A sum of Rs. 1.2 lakh would be provided to each beneficiary for the construction of a house under the scheme. B. Ramu, Chief Executive Officer of the zilla panchayat, told the meeting that, 2,338 beneficiaries, including HIV-infected, physically challenged, rural artisans and sexual minorities, had been selected for the special housing scheme in the district.
H.M. Srinivas, Joint Director of the Department of Commerce and Industries, said 172 rural artisans had been selected for the scheme.
M.J. Appaji, Bhadravati MLA, alleged that there was no transparency in the process of selection of beneficiaries for the housing scheme. Elected representatives had been kept in darkness. A few influential persons in Bhadravati taluk had been selected for the scheme under the rural artisans’ quota. Mr. Appaji demanded that the selection of beneficiaries be conducted afresh.
Mr. Rathnakar directed the officials to take the elected representatives into confidence while selecting the beneficiaries. The list should be re-scrutinised and names of un-eligible beneficiaries dropped, he said.
Mr. Appaji alleged that he had received several complaints from the public that some liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distributors at Bhadravati were collecting more than stipulated amount from customers for fresh connections.
Mr. Ratnakar asked Deputy Director of the Department of Food and Civil Supplies Sridhar to conduct a probe and if the allegations were proved, criminal case be booked under the LPG Control Act against the owners of errant agencies, he said.
A sum of Rs. 40 lakh had been released to each taluk for immediately undertaking the schemes that were meant to address the problem of drinking water scarcity, Mr. Ratnakar said.
Expressing displeasure over the alleged delay in digging borewells in villages that had been identified as vulnerable for drinking water problem, he directed the officials of the Department of Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation to hire the services of a borewell drilling agency each for all taluks and get the pending schemes completed expeditiously.
Assistant Executive Engineer of the department Ganapati told the meeting that a grant of Rs. 7.83 crore had been sought from the government to address drinking water problem that might arise in the district during summer. Mr. Ratnakar said, he would initiate measures to get the amount sanctioned at the earliest.
Madhu Bangarappa, Sorab MLA; M.B. Bhanuprakash, MLC; V.P. Ikkeri, Deputy Commissioner; and Ravi Channannanavar, Superintendent of Police, were present.
