Karnataka Revenue Minister holds review meeting in Hassan, takes officers to task

Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, who is also the Minister in charge of Hassan district, expressed disappointment that most of the officers consider development only in terms of spending money and achieving the target, instead of verifying whether programmes served the real purpose for which they were planned.

Speaking at a development review meeting in Hassan on Tuesday, Mr. Byre Gowda said that officers mentioned only about funds in their progress reports. They missed stating whether the expenditure resulted in achieving the desired progress, the Minister added. “Going by the statement of progress, it seems the officers have no idea of the welfare of people,” he said, holding a copy of the document prepared for the meeting.

The Minister said that the purpose of his review meetings was to understand the impact of the development programme on the people. “If we limit the idea of the Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) to financial progress alone, we are going against the people. You change your orientation towards development and understand how people are being benefited,” he said.

Reviewing the public distribution scheme, he wanted to know from the officers why 18,000 families in the district had not taken rations for three months. The officers should have enquired about the families and checked whether they really needed rations, Mr. Byre Gowda said. “I can understand if a family does not take rations for a month. But if they do not take it for three months, they may not require it. The officers’ job is to review whether the programme is reaching the genuine beneficiaries,” he stated.

Reviewing the Health Department, he instructed the officers to give attention to lifestyle diseases. “The doctors’ attention should not be limited to communicable diseases. They should give attention to non-communicable diseases, primarily caused due to lifestyle changes,” he said.

Mr. Byre Gowda took the officers of the Education Department to task for the dip in admission in government schools. He wanted to know why people were not showing interest to admit their children in government schools, even when the government had been providing all benefits. “Compared to teachers in private schools, government school teachers get high salaries. We give lunch, books, uniforms, shoes, and milk. Despite that, why is there a decline in admission to government schools?”, he asked the officers.

MLA for Arasikere K.M. Shivalinge Gowda, Lok Sabha member Shreyas Patel, Deputy Commissioner K.S. Lathakumari, and others were present at the meeting.