LENDING AN EAR: Bijapur Deputy Commissioner V.B. Patil listening to women at a public grievances meeting held at Kallakavatagi village as part of his village stay programme on Wednesday.

BIJAPUR: It was memorable day for Maddappa Kottalagi, a landless labour from Kallakavatagi village in the taluk, who lost his legs in an accident. For years, his effort to get a roof over his head, and disability pension remained futile thanks to "bookish" attitude of the officials.

However, his hope was rekindled on Wednesday, when Deputy Commissioner V.B. Patil gave him a patient hearing at a public grievance meeting held at Kallakavatagi as part of his village stay programme there. Mr. Patil assured him relief within a week.

Relief

The village stay programme also brought relief to few others. The village high school building appeared like district headquarters with Mr. Patil camping there along with other officials, including Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Rajiv Ranjan and Additional Superintendent of Police, S. Shivanand.

People from Kallakavatagi and surrounding villages thronged the venue with petitions numbering around 200. While most of them were individual in nature, few others contained public demands.

Majority of the petitions were related to housing and ration cards. Some Dalit women complained that the previous village accountant demanded bribe for releasing housing grant sanctioned under the Ambedkar Awas Yojna. The present village accountant had also been postponing the release on one reason or the other, they said. Mr. Patil took the village accountant to task and asked him to release the money by next Monday. He asked the CEO to institute a departmental inquiry against the previous village accountant, and punish him if found guilty.

Anomalies in the ration cards was the another topic that consumed much time. Mr. Patil appealed to villagers to find out those who got cards meant for below poverty line families though they were not eligible for the same. He said he would ensure that all the families got ration cards of different categories suiting their economic status.

K.R. Medegar of the village pleaded for early completion of Babanagar Feeder Channel that benefits Babanagar, Kallavatagi and surrounding areas. The scheme, which aims at diverting floodwaters of local streams to Babanagar tank, has been stopped halfway for want of funds and due to objections by some

individuals.

Mr. Patil asked the zilla panchayat engineering wing to formulate a comprehensive plan including rehabilitation package for some families that would be disturbed by the scheme. He said the required money would be mobilised from different sources to commission the project in coming months.

Following the complaints by farmers, Mr. Patil asked Joint Director of Agriculture Mohammad Jabiulla to ensure that only tested and genuine seeds were supplied to farmers. A demand for Raitha Samparka Kendra at the village was rejected on the ground that such centre existed at nearby Tikota.

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