The Hindu : Panels to oversee village water supply

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 07, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Panels to oversee village water supply

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, MARCH 6. The Minister of State for Rural Water Supply, K.B. Koliwad, today said his department had taken all measures to ensure that drinking water supply was adequate in all villages, and the officers were at hand to address any grievance or emergency.

Mr. Koliwad made it clear he was speaking only after ensuring that talking about "a job well done" did not amount to violation of the code of conduct for elections.

Village-level committees, which had gram panchayat members, Stree Shakti and consumer representatives and others as members, were monitoring the water supply in the villages in a demonstration of people's participation in governance at the village level. Each of the 5,679 gram panchayats had been given Rs. 10,000 as a reserve fund to take up emergency repairs and other jobs to ensure adequate water supply.

There were also taluk-level monitoring committees to keep a watch on the situation, while the Minister in charge of the district headed the district-level committees. At the district level, a reserve fund of Rs. 50 lakh had been set aside. Apart from this, each taluk had been allocated Rs. 10 lakh for sinking new borewells.

In order to ensure that the public were not affected and consumers had their grievances redressed, all officers and staff of the department had been told to monitor the water supply and respond to people's complaints and suggestions, he said.

With the model code of conduct for the elections now in force, the Vidhana Soudha wears a deserted look and it is only one or two Ministers who amble in and make themselves available for a chat with journalists.

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