The Karnataka Assembly polls are nearing and the Congress government is working to bolster its chances of a victory.
On Tuesday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held a meeting with the Deputy Commissioners of all districts and the Chief Executive Officers of all Zilla Panchayats, and ordered the officials to complete all pro-people programmes initiated by the government.
“The elections may be held in either April or May. There are five more months to complete projects, including clearing government land encroachment, housing for SC, ST and OBC communities, Indira Canteens, ration card distribution, land sanctioning and distribution of land rights to the downtrodden and others,” the CM said.
“We had planned to construct 15 lakh houses in five years. If the beneficiaries are allotted sites early, it will help them take up construction and complete it on war footing. Officers must prioritise this,” Siddaramaiah added.
The CM also lauded officials who were working towards the development of Bengaluru city.
“In Bengaluru, officials are doing the good work of clearing encroachments on government land. Officials in other districts must follow their example and recover lands. These can be used for schools, colleges, anganwadis, community halls, hostels and cemeteries,” he said.
He said that the state government was planning to open 6,000 Bapuji Seva Kendras in every panchayat and that the work had already begun in 514 places. “Such centres should be opened in all other panchayats in the next three months,” he said.
The CM had launched the kendras on July 1 to help farmers get copies of all official documents, such as record of right of tenancy and cultivation (RTC), and individual records such as caste and income certificates.
He also said that Indira Canteens must be set up in all taluk headquarters.
“One Indira Canteen for one lakh population is the goal. Officials can take a decision on opening such canteens even if the population is less. The canteens should be opened at places like bus stands, hospitals, APMC yards and so on. If land is not available, mobile canteens can be opened. Places can be rented to set up canteens as well,” the Chief Minister added.
Siddaramaiah also asked the officials from coastal districts to figure out a solution to the impediments in the Mathru Poorna scheme, acknowledging that the reach of the scheme had run into problems.
The state government’s Mathru Poorna Yojane, a programme introduced to meet the nutritional needs of pregnant and lactating women in rural areas, has run into problems in Malnad and coastal regions.
“Yes, there are difficulties in implementing the programme in a few districts, especially in the Malnad region (consisting of Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru and Kodagu districts) because of the terrain. The problem is also present in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts. The distance between the houses of pregnant women and the anganwadi is over 1 km, and the women find it difficult to reach the angawadi. We need to come up with measures to increase the programme’s reach,” the CM told the district officials.
Mathru Poorna seeks to provide nutritious meals to women for 25 days in a month. Data provided during the review indicated that the programme was reaching nearly 61.24% of pregnant and lactating women. The success rate of the programme in Shivamogga was 27.66% and 23.39% in Kodagu.