Karnataka - Hubli   

Officials' replies irk Siddaramaiah

By Our Special Correspondent

HUBLI, AUG. 9. Officials at a review meeting had to face the wrath of the Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, who was irked by their replies. Speaking at the meeting held on Sunday, the Deputy Chief Minister said: "The Government means business and you cannot get away by giving evasive answers."

"The next time I come, you must be fully prepared. Otherwise, stern action will be taken against you," he warned.

It was the sub-registrar who was the first to be ticked off. Mr. Siddaramaiah was annoyed when the official said that no target had been fixed for the current year, and when asked about achievement the previous year, the official put it at 80 per cent.

Low revenue

"How is that there is no increase in revenue when transactions related to land have increased," he asked.

Next it was the turn of the superintendent in the office of the Karnataka Neeravari Nigam. The official spoke incoherently when questions were put to him.

Mr. Siddaramaiah took strong exception to the statement of the official that he had no answer to the questions.

A HESCOM official also could not give a proper reply to a question by Mr. Siddaramaiah on the loss sustained by it because of free supply of power to farmers. When the official mumbled some figure, Mr. Siddaramaiah questioned it saying no energy audit had been done by Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd. (KPCL). "How did you arrive at this figure," Mr. Siddaramaiah asked.

Textbooks

Mr. Siddaramaiah was aghast to learn that the office of the Deputy Director of Public Instruction had not supplied new textbooks to students and that old textbooks had been distributed and the examination would be conducted based on the lessons in the old textbooks. "How can you conduct examination based on the lessons in the old textbooks," he sought to know. The Deputy Chief Minister pulled up the official of the Food and Civil Supplies Department for failing to implement the Government's scheme of providing rice to the poor at Rs. 3 a kg. Mr. Siddaramaiah also took to task officials in the Revenue Department at the taluk level. He told them that papers received should be disposed of within seven days.

The Government would not hesitate to take action against officials if they made people run from pillar to post, he warned.

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