MANGALORE: The quarterly review meeting of the Karnataka Development Programme held here on Saturday, decided to inform the Chief Minister on the need to keep elected representatives and district in-charge Minister, Jabbar Khan Honnalli, appraised about the transfer of officials from the district. The meet also decided to go for a calling attention motion in the Legislative Assembly in this regard.

The MP, D.V. Sadananda Gowda, said Mr. Honnalli and local elected representatives were not being taken into confidence when transferring officials. He said most transfers are being done by Ministers to please their constituents without taking anyone into confidence and this is affecting governance. He suggested that while such transfers may be related to compulsions faced by the coalition Government, it is wrong to sideline a majority of local MLAs and MLCs simply because they are from the Opposition.

He urged MLAs take up the issue during zero hour when the Legislative Assembly meets on Monday and suggested a resolution to this effect be forwarded to the Chief Minister. Mr. Gowda, praised the Chief Minister for appraising MPs on pending projects in the State on the eve of the Parliament session. He urged district-level officials to follow suit. Elected representatives can discharge their duties properly when equipped with the right information, he said.

The meet also discussed the presence of unauthorised arrack outlets in the State and ordered officials of the Excise Department to crackdown on such activities. Pratapchandra Shetty, MLC, suggested that licenses be issued only to those shops located in authorised buildings.

Mr. Honnalli asked officials to ensure that arrack and liquor outlets are not permitted to operate near religious and educational institutions. The Bantwal MLA, Nagaraj Shetty, urged Mr. Honnalli to ensure that students in private education institutions receive textbooks on time. The Deputy Director of Public Instruction, Philomena Lobo, said nearly 90 per cent of textbooks have been supplied and the rest will be delivered to private schools within week. She said students in all government schools have been provided with textbooks. The meeting unanimously opposed the move by the Government to divert the Netravathi to meet needs of people of Malnad areas and urged the Government to drop the project.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail