Ivan D’Souza, MLA and member of the Christian Development Commission, has urged the State government to upgrade the commission and to ‘Christian Development Corporation.’ He also urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to enhance the budgetary allocation from Rs. 125 crore to Rs. 350 crore for 2016-17.
Mr. D’Souza was speaking at a programme jointly organised by the Department of Minorities Welfare and Zilla Panchayat to create awareness about the development projects implemented by the State government in Yadgir on Monday.
Mr. D’Souza said that the government had earmarked Rs. 125 crore in 2015-16 for the development of the community. However, most of the programmes using budgetary allocations were not reaching the people properly owing to lack of awareness and disinterest of the officials too.
Therefore, it was necessary that officials conduct awareness programmes and distribute pamphlets in each village to ensure that the people were aware of the benefits under schemes, he said. He also demanded that the government establish a skill development centre in Bidar to ensure that unemployed youth from the Hyderabad-Karnataka region could develop technical skills necessary to get a job.
Mr. D’Souza listed out the benefits extended to Christians and appealed to the community to ensure that they receive and enjoy the same effectively. He also assured to spend 40 per cent of the grants earmarked for the Commission to help the needy in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region.
