Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal (SP)
Bantwal, May 2: District in-charge minister and Congress party candidate from here, B Ramanath Rai, claimed that he was advised to stop flow of funds from Kollur temple for feeding the children of Kalladka and Punacha schools towards avoiding misappropriation of funds by current BJP candidate from Byndoor constituency and BJP leader, Sukumar Shetty.
This statement of Rai has given rise to a fresh controversy.
Rai made the above claim when addressing a convention of Sajipamunnur zilla panchayat and the local municipal and Casba limit women's Congress held here on Tuesday May 1.
"Sukumar Shetty told me that a sum of Rs 4.5 lac was being diverted each month from Kollur temple to Kalladka and Punacha schools in the name of grants towards providing lunch to students. This money represents money donated by devotees towards fulfillment of their religious vows. This is a daylight robbery which needs to be stopped forthwith, he advised me," said Rai. He said he thereafter took up the matter with state government and got the flow of money stopped through an order, which was a virtuous task," he stated.
Rai drew the attention of the people present at the meeting that none of the schools in the state were getting grants from any of the temples, and that the above arrangement was a scheme of daylight robbery created by BJP leaders to help their own people. He wanted to know why this system was not put in place for the other 333 schools in the state. "If these two schools have genuine concern about their children, why don't they get registered under the regular free food scheme of the government? The management of these schools indulged in criminal act by asking the students to go begging for alms,"he said.
On this occasion, several BJP workers joined Congress party. Zilla panchayat member, Chandraprakash Shetty, president of campaign committee, Sanjeeva Poojary, Karnataka Cashew Development Corporation chairman, B H Khader, block Congress president, Mayilappa Salian, and others were present.