The issue of providing sites and houses to the poor dominated the general body meeting of the Udupi Zilla Panchayat here on Wednesday.
Raising the issue, Raju Poojary said that not a single house under the Ashraya scheme was sanctioned in the district during 2009-10.
Though people were living in thatched huts in some villages, authorities of the gram panchayats concerned had not bothered to even look at them. Instead, they had submitted reports saying there was no thatched hut in their gram panchayat limits. As a result, these people who could have been sanctioned houses under any of the various housing schemes had been denied the benefit, he said.
Gerald Fernandes said that the district was given a target to provide 8,700 houses under the Ashraya scheme three years ago, but only 2,000 houses were sanctioned that year. This was an opportunity wasted, he said.
Bhujanga Shetty said that details of various housing schemes being implemented in the district were not being made available to the panchayat members. Officials should take zilla panchayat members into confidence while identifying beneficiaries for housing schemes, he said.
Guidelines
Devananda Shetty said that frequent changing of guidelines for selecting beneficiaries for various housing schemes was a big hurdle.
Intervening, Chief Executive Officer of the zilla panchayat N. Rajashekhar said that details of all housing schemes being implemented in the district were being collected. This information was being computerised and would be made available to all the members as soon as the process was completed, he said.
Mr. Bhujanga Shetty said that the State Government had not released funds for water supply schemes. Funds for maintenance of roads had not been released for the last two years, he said.
D.V. Sadananda Gowda, MP, said that he would take up the issue of non-release of funds for water supply schemes with the Government. He and Home Minister V.S. Acharya had met the State Finance Secretary and urged him to immediately release funds for repairing roads. The State Government had decided to release Rs. 30 crore as special grant for Udupi district. The fund would be used for taking up development works, he said.
Preparations
Janardhan Tonse wanted to know preparations made in the district for tackling emergencies during the monsoon. He said that the list of private boat owners and expert divers in the district had not been prepared efficiently.
One Mutta Poojary had been named expert diver in the list. But Mutta Poojary had died seven months ago. Some of the people named in the list did not even know to swim and did not live in the villages named. Some of them mentioned as private boat owners did not own any boat, he said.
