Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB)

Udupi Feb, 19: "We wanted to bring changes in the administrative system. Officers of various departments should understand the problems of poor people in villages. Keeping this in mind, we have introduced the 'deputy commissioner's walk towards village' programme," said revenue minister R Ashok.

He was addressing a programme held at Karnataka Public School, Kokkarne here on Saturday, February 19. He stayed at Kokkarne as part of the village stay programme of the government. He will be available to hear grievances from the public till 11 am of Sunday February 20.

"Thousands of files are gathering dust at government departments for the past 10 years. The disposal of files is not happening in the right manner. Unfortunately, many of the eligible beneficiaries or victims have not received benefits from the departments concerned. Some officers are making them run from pillar to post to avail pension and approvals.

"The main intention of this programme is to find solutions to people's problems. Every minister should understand the ground reality. Around 448 applications have been received by various departments, out of which 212 are BPL card holders. We plan to put a full stop to the practice of sending people from department to department for their work. Now the government itself is coming to the doorsteps of general public," he assured.

He also promised to put sincered effort into solving issues related to deemed forest land within 15 days hearing grievances from applicants.

On the occasion, the minister handed over keys of customised vehicles to specially-abled persons.

He also instructed officers not to make senior citizens and specially-abled persons wait in queues in front of the government office. "It is their duty to serve them and give them first priority."

Minister for Kannada and culture Sunil Kumar said, "The deemed forest problems arose between 1992 and 2004. Many families are facing the same issues and not getting RTC."

Udupi MLA Raghupati Bhat placed a demand to build another sub-registrar's office in Udupi for quicker disposal of files. "If the sub-registrar's office is set up in urban and rural areas, people would feel grateful to the revenue department. This is also a source of income for the government," he stressed.

Earlier, minister Ashok received a grand welcome from villagers, accompanied by cultural teams. He performed gau puja, and later helped in attaching artificial limb to a specially-abled person.

Tushar Girinath, chief secretary, revenue department, deputy commissioner Kurma Rao, Dr Naveen Bhat Y, CEO, zilla panchayat, Udupi, Mattaru Ratnakar Hegde, president, Coastal Development Authority, Lalaji R Mendon, Kaup MLA, Sadashiv Prabhu, additional deputy commissioner, Pradeep Kurudekar, Udupi tahsildar, Rajshekhar Murthy, Brahmavar tahsildar and others were present.

Minister Ashok received applications related to deemed forest land, kumki land and pensions from the villagers.

After the programme, he visited the Kudubi community, where he was welcomed traditional betel leafs.

He distributed government provisions to 1,417 beneficiaries of schemes under revenue department, rural development and panchayat raj department, women and child welfare department, horticulture, agriculture, poultry farming, physically challenged and senior citizens empowerment department, social welfare department Brahmavar, ITDP and food and civil services departments.