Pics: Umesh Marpalli

Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB)

Udupi, Dec 23: The tenth general body meeting of Udupi zilla panchayat was held on Friday December 22 at V S Acharya memorial hall, Rajathadri in Manipal.

Raising the issue of farmarion of Hebri taluk, Jyothi Harish said, "As per the order the government has sanctioned the formation of 49 new taluks in January 2018. Hebri is a remote area. It needs basic infrastructure in order to be a taluk. There is need to appoint a special Tahsildar for Hebri taluk. It be considered under geographical location and not under population. By January it should function as taluk."

Replying to the issue raised by Jyothi, assistant commissioner Shilpa Nag said, "A recommendation is sent to the government to reconsider Hebri taluk on the basis of geographical area and not population."

Reshma Uday Kumar Shetty took the officer to task regarding construction of a tollgate at Belman and said, "The highway authority has developed 28 km of road. They have put 32 speed breakers on the road at such a short distance. It was handed over to Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project (KSHIP). Based on a credible source, they have come to know that a tender has been called for the construction of a tollgate in Belman. The road is constructed in an unscientific manner, but the concerned officials do not have this information." She urged the ZP president and CEO not to call a tender and to take a resolution on the matter at the ZP meeting.

Another ZP member Divya Shri Girish said, "The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) did not complete the work at Karkala bypass area. Drainage construction work in Sanur and road work in Kajarbail is also incomplete. The work is moving at a very slow pace."

Geethanjali Suvarna also complained about poor work of NHAI. A flyover is planned to be constructed at a cost of Rs 18 crore in Padubidri.

Due to lack of knowledge of Kannada, the NHAI independent engineer failed to address the problem. Later Geethanjali tried to convey the problem in Hindi.

CEO Shivanand Kapashi instructed the NHAI to attend the meeting with the regional officer, who is well versed in Kannada, the following Wednesday. At the meeting they will address the highway road problem.

Pratap Hegde Marali highlighted the lapse in the selection of eligible beneficiaries for 94C. He alleged that the Tahsildar has shortlisted the beneficiaries himself by refusing the list made by grama panchayat.

The CEO has agreed to the lapse highlighted by Pratap and has said that the same happened in his absence and that he will look into the issue.

Marali further said, "Five Anganwadi workers in Brahmavar and Kota are deprived of getting housing sites due to a technical issue. In the government circular, it is not mentioned anywhere that the Anganwadi workers, whose income is below Rs 35,000 per annum, are not eligible to get housing sites under 94C. Only government employees, who are earning more than Rs 45,000 per annum, are not eligible to get the benefit under the scheme. There is need to re-scrutinize specific cases," he demanded.

"Over 450 files are kept pending under deemed forest. Few families living in the partial deemed forest in Nitte have got temporary RTC. The government departments have become like chit fund business companies," alleged Reshma.

Assistant commissioner Shilpa replied to the allegation of Reshma by saying, "A comprehensive study (survey) is conducted. The forest and revenue department will conduct a joint survey by the end of December. By January 2018, they will issue RTC for the deprived families."

Sumit Shetty complained about the poor performance of food department regarding issuing of ration cards, because of which eligible families are struggling to get benefits under Din Dayal electricity scheme. "Several families have not been getting ration since three months. There is need to find an immediate solution for complications in printing ration cards."

In reply to Sumit's complaint, the food supply department official said, "we have received 15,920 applications in the district. 8,112 applications have been examined. Over 7,025 cards were printed. 659 are pending for distribution. We have got back 11,000 undelivered cards due to wrong addresses and other reasons."

Folk cultural team 'Sarasvati Yuvaka Mandala Malpe' that is selected for national level competition and Delphine D'Souza, Anganwadi teacher since 35 years, who was honoured with the national award during Teacher's Day for her dedicated work and improvements made, were felicitated at the meeting in recognition of their incredible achievements.

ZP vice-president Sheela K Shetty, MLA K Pratapchandra Shetty, Halady Shrinivas Shetty, president of social justice standing committee Babu Shetty, president of health and education standing committee Uday S Kotian, president of agriculture and industry standing committee Shashikant Padubidri and project officer were present.