Silvester D' Souza
Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (EP)
Kundapur, June 5: "The administration of the taluk panchayat has collapsed. The executive officials have failed to discharge their duties,", said the members at the taluk panchayat meeting in Kundapur. They walked out of the meeting in anger on Wednesday June 4.
The 22nd general meeting of the Kundapur Taluk Panchayat was held on June 4 and the anger of the members kept exploding during the meeting. It was decided in the earlier meeting to take action as per Panchayat Raj regulations against Varahi executive engineer who was continuously absent for the meetings. It was also decided to write about it to the district in-charge minister, head of the department and the deputy commissioner. However it was found that the letter was written only on June 3 causing anguish among the members in the meeting.
Kedoor Sadananda Shetty expressed anguish and impatience with regard to the delay in writing and said that the administrative machinery of the taluk panchayat has collapsed. He said that the chief executive officer who is in the responsible position does not show any interest in the work.
"The decisions of the meeting do not get recorded. Though several months have elapsed after the last meeting, the letter has not been written. Do we need such meetings? The meetings are being held only to indicate indexes and none of them are being implemented. We do not need such useless meetings," he added and walked out. Other members followed him. President and the vice president also walked out.
The controversy of land for school took another turn in the meeting. The discussions during the last meeting were not mentioned in the minutes of the meeting. Though the meeting had decided to set aside 3.37 acres of land for the school, it is recorded as 1.5 acres in the records. Gowri Devadiga expressed anguish at the difference. Kedooru Sadananda Shetty who strongly resented the lapse questioned as to who was responsible for that. He demanded a clear answer with regard to it.
"Officials are giving the scarcity of staff as the reason. Pass a resolution saying that decisions are not possible due to scarcity of staff. Lack of staff should not be a reason for a resolution. The matter is pertaining to the taluk and there is no meaning if appropriate resolutions are not possible," said Raju Poojary.
"The decisions of the taluk panchayat should be passed on to the Zilla panchayat within fifteen days. The reasons such as there is no manager or no staff are not valid. The administration has collapsed in the taluk," he added.
"There are allegations that PDO secretaries are not going to the grama panchayat regularly. There is no justification for Gangolli grama panchayat problems. It is as bad as destruction of administration given to it in a democratic process," he continued.
Time was spent on such discussions. The meeting resumed after the AO took the responsibility of recording the resolutions of the meeting.
"Nineteen houses are blocked under Basava Vasathi project. Nineteen families are not billed. Monsoon is approaching. What can they do when the houses are incomplete," questioned member Navinchandra Shetty. "There is no use even after discussing the matter in four meetings," he said.
Raju Poojary who joined in the discussion asked how many houses were blocked in other grama panchayats if nineteen were blocked there. He asked whether a survey was conducted and whether the engineers have submitted the report.
Kedooru Sadananda Shetty spoke saying that walls are ready but the roofs are pending. "What will be the fate of the families when rains begin and who will be responsible for it," he questioned.
Raju Poojary responded saying that suitable disciplinary action should be taken against those who are responsible for the delay and people should not be harassed.
There were discussions on R M S Project.
"Necessary funds are released under the national education campaign and but information about selection of projects, implementation, progress and inspection are not available. It is unfortunate that the officials do not think about obtaining the information from officers," added Raju Poojary expressing his resentment. Manjayya Shetty, Pradeepchandra Shetty and Pradeep Kumar Shetty joined him in the affirmative.
Pradeep Shetty drew attention with regard to the problem of the forest department at Hardalli Mandalli. Manju Billawa, Pradeep Kumar Shetty Gudibettu, Deepak Kumar Shetty and Shanker Shetty joined him.
Taluk panchayat president Deepika Shetty presided over the meeting. President of social justice committee Srimathi Mogaveera and executive officer Adolf Fernandes were also present.
H Manjayya Shetty asked cock fight is a gamble or a sport. "It is prevalent in villages and Janapada programmes. Police raid saying that it is a gamble. Innocent people run break their limbs. Does the police department take action on the culprits. Some say that they have taken permission from the police department, but the police department should clarify it," he said.
"There are examples of absence of buses even in places where they are permitted," he added.
Members drew attention that government buses do not run on the Kolluru road. Raju Poojary spoke saying that the Pradhan Mantri Sadak roads are being constructed in the taluk. "Many of them are suitable for bus transport. It is convenient for rural people if buses ply on such roads. The RTO should look into the matter," he concluded.