Over 82,000 pending files to be cleared during special drive in Dakshina Kannada till February 28: Minister

Minister for Energy, Kannada and Culture V. Sunil Kumar said that the files will be cleared from the gram panchayat level to the office of Deputy Commissioner. The drive is also to avoid the intervention of middlemen in some offices

Karnataka Minister for Energy, Kannada & Culture V. Sunil Kumar, who is in charge of Dakshina Kannada district, at the launch of file disposal week, in Mangaluru on February 19, 2022. | Photo Credit: MANJUNATH HS

As many as 82,400 files pending in 45 government offices in Dakshina Kannada are to be disposed off during a special file clearance drive in the district between February 19 and February 28, according to V. Sunil Kumar, Minister for Energy, Kannada and Culture, who is in charge of the district.

Speaking at launch of the drive with Revenue Minister R. Ashok in Mangaluru on February 19, Mr. Kumar said that the pending files have been categorised as pending old files, pending applications of grievances, and applications pending under delivery of services.

There are 28,728 pending old files and 2,099 files are that of pending applications of grievances. In addition, 51,573 files are applications pending under delivery of services. All these files are pending as on February 7, 2022, Mr. Kumar said.

The district in-charge minister said that the files are pending due to various reasons including the lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the past two years, deputation of officials for COVID-19 control measures, technical reasons and delay on the part of officials.

The drive has been launched to deliver the services to the applicants at the earliest.

“The officials should not take leave during the duration of the drive and work for longer hours than the fixed working hours to clear the files for fast delivery of services,” Mr. Kumar said.

He said that the files will be cleared from the gram panchayat level to the office of Deputy Commissioner. The drive is also to avoid the intervention of middlemen in some offices. The Mangaluru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) should clear their pending files on priority, Mr. Kumar said.

Hailing the drive launched in the district, the Revenue Minister said that it will really help people. Taking a cue from the drive launched in Dakshina Kannada, the Revenue Department will emulate the same all over Karnataka soon, he added.

Mr. Ashok said that some of the files have been pending for the past 15 or 20 years due to technical reasons. Such files should be cleared at the earliest.

The Chief Executive Officer of Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Kumara made the introductory remarks.

MLAs D. Vedavyasa Kamath, Y. Bharat Shetty, Umanath A. Kotian, MLCs Pratap Simha Nayak, Deputy Commissioner K. V. Rajendra and others were present at the event.