Pics: Spoorthi Ullal

Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (ANK)

Mangaluru Jul 16: “Indira Canteen project has been a great success in the state and people have accepted it with open arms,” said minister for urban development and housing U T Khader dismissing claims of alleged scam by opposition MLA S A Ramdas here on Monday, July 16.

MLA S A Ramdas had earlier alleged large scale corruption and financial irregularities in setting up and running Indira canteen in Karnataka.

Addressing media persons, U T Khader said, “The statement made by BJP MLA S A Ramdas is politically motivated with an intention to divert the minds of people. S A Ramdas does not have enough information about the functioning of Indira Canteen and is not even interested to get the right information.

“Indira Canteen provides food at very less price for the needy and people have whole heartedly accepted it. S A Ramdas is making such statement to create confusion among the people without any proof. When such schemes are useful to the public it should be supported and it is not correct to make unnecessary allegations about Indira Canteen.

“Out of 263 Indira Canteens proposed in all districts and taluk headquarters, 171 canteens are attached with kitchen, 71 canteens are without kitchen and 15 have independent kitchens. Out of 263 projected Indira Canteens, 136 are completed and 37 are under progress. In Dakshina Kannada, there are six Indira Canteens, while Indira Canteen at Pumpwell will be opened on July 17 and Indira canteen at Bantwal, Beltangady, Puttur, Sullia and Moodbidri will come up soon. The total project cost of Indira Canteens is Rs 211.24 crore out of which Rs 113 crore has been spent already.

“This is a brief information about Indira Canteen. Without knowing about it, BJP MLA S A Ramdas has been alleging scam in the project. The allegations are false and baseless,” he said.

Government sanctioned two English medium schools

“Government has sanctioned two Maulana Azad English medium schools at Kallapu and Farangipete which falls under minority department. Education will be provided for free and these English medium schools impart education from class 6 to 10,” said U T Khader.egarding Shiradi Ghat, U T Khader said, “As of now there will be no heavy vehicular movement in Shiradi Ghat region for 15 days to avoid untoward incidents. To build side walls and to cover the danger zones, a deadline of 15 days has been given to the contractors.”