Minister for Public Works and senior JD(S) leader H.D. Revanna has once again come down heavily on Hassan Deputy Commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis. Alleging that she has failed to take up drought-relief works in the district, Mr. Revanna, who is also Minister in charge of the district, has said she would be responsible “if law and order breaks down in the district”.
Mr. Revanna has had several run-ins with the DC since she reported on duty in Hassan on March 31. Earlier, when three people on election duty were suspended on charges of entertaining proxy voting, he accused her of working as a “BJP agent”, and also alleged that she was taking instructions from the previous DC, Rohini Sindhuri.
Mr. Revanna has had differences with previous DCs — Rohini Sindhuri, V. Chaitra, and Umesh Kusugal — as well, and has spoken against them in public. Ms. Sindhuri was transferred from the district in February and Akram Pasha took her place. It was alleged that he got her transferred for political reasons. Interestingly, his party had supported her when she was transferred from Hassan, when the Congress was in power.
Speaking to presspersons here on Wednesday, the Minister said development works had taken a back seat in the district for the last two months owing to elections. The DC had kept the funds meant for drought relief untilised, he said.
“If she cannot work, let her go on leave. The DC would be responsible if something goes wrong in the district,” he said. Mr. Revanna also urged the Chief Electoral Officer and the Chief Secretary to specify who should hold meetings on drought relief at the district level. “While the Election Commission keeps a check on Ministers holding drought meetings at districts, leaders of the BJP demand that the Ministers must visit drought-hit areas,” he remarked.
Reacting to the allegations, Ms. Francis said the district administration had taken enough measures on drought relief. The funds available had been released to respective tahsildars. “At present, we are providing drinking water through tankers in 19 villages of Arasikere taluk and one in Belur. The administration has taken over 34 private borewells to handle the situation,” she said.
