The Revenue Department is the mother of all departments and the officials associated with the department should set an example to others by giving clean and transparent administration, said Revenue Minister Kagodu Thimmappa.
Chairing a review meeting of the Revenue Department at the zilla panchayat auditorium in Dharwad recently, Mr. Thimmappa said that from the village accountant to the deputy commissioner, the role of every officer is vital in bringing administration close to the people.
Hence, the officials should put an end to the practice of relaxing in air-conditioned offices and instead tour every village and give priority for speedy disposal of pending files, particularly title deeds, he said.
Henceforth, village accountants and revenue inspectors have to stay in the respective villages so that they can know the people well and listen to their complaints. In a majority of villages, people do not know who their village accountant is. They have complained that village accountants visit only during floods, drought or house collapse and then go “missing”, he said. But, there will be no scope for such practices now, he added.
On compensation cheque distribution, Mr. Thimmappa said that there were complaints that the names on the cheques differed from the names entered in the bank accounts due to spelling mistakes and hence, the beneficiaries were unable to get compensation. If there are any such cases, the village accountant, the revenue inspector and the panchayat development officer should go to the doorstep of the beneficiary and hand over the cheque after verifying his name in the bank passbook, he said.
The Minister criticised KRIDL for non-commissioning reverse osmosis units in a few villages.
