Working in coordination is a prerequisite for effective implementation of development and welfare programmes initiated by both Union and State governments, Minister for Handloom, Textiles and Sugar Shankar Patil Munenkoppa has said.
Chairing a progress review meeting of Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) in Dharwad on Monday, Mr. Patil said that as some officials had not moved out of their offices but had taken decisions sitting in office, several technical issues had cropped up resulting in delay in the completion of various works.
The Minister asked the officials to compulsorily visit the construction sites and ensure that the projects are completed in time. The onus is also on them to ensure that no sanctioned fund lapsed due to delay, he said.
The absence of officials of Minor Irrigation Department and National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) irked the Minister so much so that he asked the Deputy Secretary of the Zilla Panchayat to issue show-cause notices to them. Officials skipping meetings will be dealt with strictly, he said.
The former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar mentioned about the alleged harassment of businessmen and street vendors by police personnel on the pretext of implementing night curfew. Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad Nitesh Patil assured him of taking up the issue with the Police Commissioner.
Legislators Amrut Desai, Kusumavati Shivalli and C.M. Nimbannavar collectively raised an intriguing development of contractors making bids that were 30% less than the estimated rates and sought an answer. They said that such low quotations are likely to lead to poor quality works and asked the authorities to thoroughly look into the issue.
In reply, Public Works Department officer S.B. Choudannavar said that blacklisting of such contractors is under way. He assured them of preventing such instances from recurring.
Chief Executive Officer of Zilla Panchayat B. Susheela, district officials of the Health, Revenue and other departments were present.
