Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (NJC)

Mangaluru, Sep 26: Hundreds of residents attended the Mangaluru A hobli-level Praja Seva Andolana held at the Mangaluru City Corporation’s Mangala Hall on Saturday, submitting petitions regarding various civic and welfare-related issues.

The major grievances included the non-payment of Sandhya Suraksha Yojana pensions and sewage-related problems. The meeting was chaired by Mangaluru City South MLA Vedavyas Kamath, with deputy commissioner Darshan H V, MCC commissioner Rahul Rathan Pandey, assistant commissioner Meenakshi Arya and other senior district-level officials present to receive petitions from the public.

A woman from Bajal complained that she had not received her Sandhya Suraksha pension for the past six months. Responding to her grievance, Kamath said that after the present state government came to power, the pension had been withheld for APL beneficiaries. He said that while he could not directly intervene in the matter as an MLA, he would bring the issue to the government’s attention.

A request was also submitted seeking funds for the construction of a women’s association building in Kasaba Bengre. Kamath assured that necessary action would be taken through his MLA fund.

Residents also raised issues related to sewage facilities and door numbers, following which Kamath directed the concerned officials to take appropriate action.

Addressing the gathering at the beginning of the programme, Kamath said that economically vulnerable people attend such public grievance meetings with serious difficulties and urged officials to respond to their concerns with a humanitarian approach and discharge their responsibilities accordingly.

Plea to resolve land conversion, single-site issues

Hanumanth Kamath of the Nagarika Hitarakshana Samiti raised concerns over delays in obtaining land conversion and single-site approvals in Mangaluru.

He said that residents were being forced to visit government offices for more than three months due to difficulties in the process. He explained that earlier, applicants could submit the required documents and application fee at the taluk office, following which a surveyor would inspect and measure the property and the required sketch could be obtained for land conversion.

Similarly, for single-site approval, applicants could submit the required documents and sketch to the urban development authority and obtain the approval after a site survey.

He alleged that changes introduced by the Karnataka government, including the discontinuation of the property card system, had resulted in additional delays and difficulties. He appealed to the authorities to restore a simpler system similar to the earlier procedure and take steps to resolve the issue.

Responding to the matter, Kamath said he had already raised the issue with the revenue minister several times during the Assembly session and acknowledged that it was a serious concern.