DISCUSSION: Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy with (from left) Minister for Agriculture Bandeppa Kashempur; Health Minister R. Ashok and Rural Development Minister C.M. Udasi at a meeting on improvement of 1,000 villages in the State, in Bangalore on T uesday. — Photo: K Murali Kumar.

BANGALORE: The Government has advanced the implementation of "Suvarna Gramodaya" in 1,000 villages. The first phase of the programme will be launched on Gandhi Jayanti Day (October 2) instead of Rajyotsava Day (November 1).

Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy told presspersons here on Tuesday that

a high-level committee headed by him had been constituted to ensure its speedy implementation. It would comprise Ministers, secretaries to the Government, deputy commissioners of districts and chief executive officers of all zilla panchayats, he said.

Development-oriented departments such as health, education, watershed development, housing and agriculture would join the programme. Each village would require funds between Rs. 3.5 crore and Rs. 4 crore in the remaining seven months of the current financial year, Mr. Kumaraswamy said.

Toilets would be provided in the 1,000 villages and families coming forward to build toilets on their land would be financed. The meeting was attended by Ministers Bandeppa Kashempur, Govind Karajol C.M. Udasi and Principal Secretary (Rural DevelopmEnt and Panchayat Raj) M.R. Srinivasa Murthy.

Asked about the allegation made by Leader of the Opposition N. Dharam Singh that the Government had spent only Rs. 30 crore out of the Rs. 132 crore allocated under the Centre's rural employment guarantee scheme, Mr. Kumaraswamy said that Rs. 50 crore had been spent and the delay was only in ensuring implementation of the scheme and avoiding misuse of funds.

Mr. Kumaraswamy denied the Congress president Sonia Gandhi's allegation that progress of the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission was tardy in the State. Ration cards would be issued to over 70 lakh below poverty line families in January, he said.

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