Pramesh S Jain
*Understand the Seriousness of the Drought Situation: DyCM Pulls Up Officials.
*It Is Our Responsibility to Wipe the Tears of Farmers;Do Not Forget It.
*Provide Employment and Prevent Distress Migration.
*Officials Must Remain at Headquarters and Discharge Their Duties;A Hardship Caused to People Will Not Be Tolerated.
*Dr.G.Parameshwara Issues Strict Directions to Officials.
Deputy Chief Minister and Revenue Minister Dr.G. Parameshwara today visited several villages in Tiptur, Chikkanayakanahalli and Turuvekere taluks of Tiptur Sub-Division,and Gubbi and Kunigal taluks of Tumakuru Sub-Division, to review the prevailing drought situation.
Later,he chaired a progress review meeting of the Tiptur and Tumakuru Sub-Divisions at the Ksheera Bhavana auditorium in Tiptur.
He obtained information from officials on drinking water arrangements,crop conditions,fodder availability for livestock and employment generation,and issued necessary directions on measures to tackle the drought situation.
Dr. Parameshwara said that there are a total of 548 purified drinking water units in Tiptur, Chikkanayakanahalli,Turuvekere, Gubbi and Kunigal taluks, of which 483 are currently operational.
He directed officials to immediately repair the remaining units.“There must not be any difficulty in accessing drinking water in any village,”he instructed.
He said that maintenance of purified drinking water units had been neglected after the implementation of the JJM scheme.
“If an audit is conducted, all the facts will come out. Every purified drinking water unit in the district must be audited.The audit report must be submitted at the next district-level KDP meeting,”he directed.
Pulling up Agriculture Department officials,Dr. Parameshwara asked,“As an agriculture officer, do you not even have information on how many farmers there are? What else are you doing as an Assistant Director? You are not giving us a clear picture. Why do you come to meetings without complete information?”.
He pointed out that there are 2.52 lakh farmers across the five taluks, but only around 42,000 have paid crop insurance premiums. “If that is the case, have you not paid attention to this issue?”he questioned the officials.
Dr.Parameshwara said that Chief Minister,D.K. Shivakumar had held a video interaction with officials across the State earlier in the day to explain the government’s vision and the manner in which administration must respond to people.
The distress caused by the drought is clearly visible before us.The government has therefore taken the situation very seriously. We have the challenge of ensuring that nearly seven crore people in the State do not face hardship.
To understand the situation quickly, the Chief Minister and I have been touring the State and conducting reviews.
But the information presented in this meeting shows that many of you are not discharging your responsibilities properly. It is evident that officials have not understood the gravity of the situation,”he said.
He directed all officials to treat the situation as an emergency.The data has not been analysed properly. Shouldn’t the concerned officials discuss the matter with senior officers before attending the meeting?.
We have spent 40 years in public life. If you cannot even provide accurate data about the department for which you are responsible, how can the administration function effectively?” he asked.
Referring to the previous drought situation,Dr. Parameshwara said that the State had submitted a report to the Union Government estimating losses of ₹38 lakh crore.
The Centre had sent a team to assess the drought situation in the State, but had not released funds. “Only after the court’s intervention was around ₹3,000 crore released.
When I saw the drought situation in Pavagada yesterday, it brought tears to my eyes.A farmer had spent around ₹40,000 per acre on groundnut cultivation, but there is no sign that the crop will yield anything.
What is the farmer supposed to do in such a situation? Officials cannot afford to be negligent when people are in distress,” he warned.
Dr. Parameshwara said that during his visit to villages in Kunigal taluk, people had broken down in tears saying that they were being forced to migrate in search of work.
“If such a situation has arisen in Tumakuru district itself, one can imagine the plight of people in the districts of North Karnataka.
You must work with sensitivity towards the suffering of the people. Provide them employment and ensure that they are not forced to leave their villages,”he said.
Referring to complaints of inadequate availability of medicines in C.S. Pura,he questioned the officials over the lapse. “What is the problem in ensuring medicines are available?.
How will you handle the situation if an epidemic breaks out?The problem must be resolved immediately.Last time, people lost their lives after consuming contaminated water.Ensure that such tragedies are not repeated,”he directed.
Dr.Parameshwara said that every Tahsildar and Executive Officer (EO) must take the situation very seriously.
“You are the nodal officers for your respective taluks and therefore carry greater responsibility.You must not forget that. So far, I have never personally pressured any officer regarding their work.
But if I find that people are suffering because of negligence,I will not tolerate it.Every officer must remain at their headquarters and discharge their duties,” he warned.
Tiptur MLA K.Shadakshari,Kunigal MLA,H.D.Ranganath, Turuvekere MLA,M.T. Krishnappa,Chikkanayakanahalli MLA,C.B.Suresh Babu,Deputy Commissioner Shubha Kalyan,District President of the Guarantee Schemes Implementation Committee Chandrashekar Gowda and others were present at the meeting.
