It is not good tidings for torpid Ministers in the Siddaramaiah government as a major exercise to overhaul their functioning through appraisals is on. The move is said to be a bid to wake them up from “slumber” and “realise” their responsibility in so far as their duties to people is concerned.
The trigger for the development was a statement of All India Congress Committee general secretary in charge of Karnataka Digvijaya Singh, sources in the Congress told The Hindu . His assertive instructions, apparently, stem from complaints by certain MLAs on “inertia” of the Ministers.
A few district in-charge Ministers have reportedly failed to conduct the quarterly Karnataka Development Programme meetings in district headquarters.
The issue of the absence of some other Ministers in their Vidhana Soudha offices too have been part of the grouse of the MLAs. Except a few Ministers, others are even ducking press conferences to announce progress pertaining to their departments.
As a sequel to this, the Chief Minister sought appraisals of Ministers. District in-charge secretaries are taking up the exercise. Opinions of local party leaders too are being elicited in the process to compile the “progress card”.
The progress card of the Ministers are likely to be placed before the party high command when Mr. Siddaramaiah, along with Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G. Parameshwara, will be in Delhi in the second week of November, sources said.
The occasion would also be utilised by the two leaders to seek approval for the list of party functionaries for the posts of chairperson and member of boards and corporations.
There are rumours that Mr. Siddaramaiah has sought the appraisals to “counter” Dr. Parameshwara, who has been assessing the “performance” of the Ministers since quite some time now. The Ministers have been visiting the KPCC office. But, sources denied this.
At a programme organised at the KPCC office here on Friday to mark the death anniversary of the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Dr. Parameshwara sought to play down reported differences with Mr. Siddaramaiah over his recent criticism of the government’s performance.
