The Kodagu unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has appealed to the Union and the State Governments to take steps to redress problems of the people of Kodagu district.
In a statement released here on Monday, secretary of the Kodagu CPI (M) I.R. Durgaprasad said elected representatives had not kept their promise to end elephant menace, repair roads, fill vacancies in government offices and hospitals.
A delegation from the Kodagu Zilla Panchayat along with Speaker in the Legislative Assembly K.G. Bopaiah, and M.P. Appachu Ranjan, Madikeri MLA, had recently met Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa in Bangalore and requested him to address the problems of the people of Kodagu district but to no avail, Mr. Durgaprasad said.
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The delegation had made a specific request to sanction additional funds for repair of roads, but it had not come through, he regretted. Mr. Durgaprasad said three years ago, at the behest of Mr. Bopaiah and Mr. Ranjan, the Forest Department had submitted a Rs. 350-crore proposal to end the elephant menace in the district. However, the Government had not responded to it.
According to Mr. Durgaprasad, both the Union and the State Governments were responsible for the spiralling prices of essential commodities. Families below the poverty line suffered the most because of rising prices of essential commodities. So it becomes imperative for the Government to supply at least 35 kg of rice at Rs. 2 a kg through the public distribution system.
And, the Government should distribute government land for the landless, ex-servicemen, war widows and retired plantation workers. The other demands of the CPI (M) are: hill allowance that is being given to government staff in Madikeri should be extended to all government employees in Kodagu district; wages of midday meal workers should be hiked; and job security should be provided to the workers in the unorganised sectors.
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