Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj H.K. Patil has expressed reservations over the reported statements of the Leader of Opposition Jagadish Shettar regarding the State under-performing in rural development.
He said that Mr. Shettar should not be making such baseless allegations at a time when the State was getting ready for Gram Panchayat elections.
Speaking to presspersons here on Tuesday, Mr. Patil said he would like to remind Mr. Shettar that the Union government had commended the outstanding achievements of the State government’s performance on various fronts in rural development. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi was much impressed by the State’s successful implementation of the sanitation programmes, and he had asked Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to head the committee for implementation of the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan. “Is Mr. Shettar not aware of these matters?” he said.
Quoting a progress review report of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mr. Patil said that Karnataka ranked third in aggregate performance in rural development. The State also ranked first in devolution of finance and policy adjusted against the projects.
The Gram Panchayat elections were held on a non-party basis. Mr. Shettar should not try to bring in politics at such a time, Mr. Patil said.
