The zilla panchayat general body meeting on Friday approved an action plan for the first phase of the Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF) of Rs. 11.55 crore.
The panchayat had originally sent a proposal seeking Rs. 25.78 crore to the Union government. Of this, Rs. 3.3 crore would be given to gram panchayats; Rs. 2.99 crore to taluk panchayats, Rs. 3.14 crore reserved for the zilla panchayat and Rs. 1.84 crore to urban local bodies.
A sum of Rs. 76 lakh would be reserved to pay the salaries of guest teachers appointed to fill vacancies in government schools.
Panchayat members were unhappy over the cut in allocation of funds to individual members, and pointed out that at the district planning committee meeting, Rs. 12 lakh was promised to each of the 43 members. Now, as per the revised plan, Rs. 7 lakh would be given.
After a prolonged discussion, it was decided to use the funds available under other programmes to increase allocations to panchayat members to Rs. 11.95 lakh.
A resolution passed at the meeting urged Railway Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge to sanction the divisional Railway headquarters to Gulbarga and expedite the construction of the Gulbarga–Bidar line.
