Issues related to agriculture, drinking water and health dominated the quarterly Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) meeting in Yadgir on Monday. The meeting was chaired by Small Scale Industries and Public Enterprises and district in-charge Minister Sharanabasappa Darshanapur.
The Minister called out officials for their inaction in preventing the selling of substandard sowing cotton seeds and not releasing compensation to families of farmers who had died by suicide owing to debt. “Why did you fail to curb the selling of substandard sowing seeds? What action have you taken so far against traders who are involved in such activities? How many raids have you conducted? More importantly, the delay in releasing compensation to the families of farmers who died by suicide was raised by those families. We are receiving many complaints on this. What prevented you from doing so? If you remain inactive, it will damage the image of government,” Mr. Darshanapur told Abid, Joint Director of Agriculture Department.
Meanwhile, Sharanagowda Kandkur, MLA, questioned Mr. Abid saying that the police from Telangana State were arresting people in Gurmitkal taluk’s bordering village for allegedly selling substandard seeds. “Why was the same action not taken by you, he asked.
Replying to the Minister, Mr. Abid said that 44 farmers died by suicide during 2022-23 and compensation to the families of 42 had been distributed after they were decided eligible. Two cases were rejected as they were ineligible.
The Minister asked for the reasons for the rejection and questioned why he was not informed earlier? In many cases, the compensation is released months after the incident. Mr. Abid replied that the delay was owing to delayed reports by FSL. The Minister told him to approach the concerned officer and get the reports immediately and release the compensation to those families.
Drinking water
Mr. Darshanapur and Mr. Kandkur and also Channareddy Patil Tunnur and Raja Venkatappa Naik, MLA of Yadgir and Shorapur, raised the issue of drinking water shortage. All MLAs including the Minister asked the officials of Karnataka Urban Drinking Water Supply and Rural Drinking Water Supply departments about the functioning of reserve osmosis plants (ROP’s). Informing the house, officials said that of the total 415 ROP’s in the district, 211 were working and the remaining are under repair. Mr. Darshanapur urged them to take up immediate repair works of defunct ROP’s and hand them over to concerned Gram Panchayats for maintenance as they are collecting money on selling water.
Officers further said that there was no severe drinking water problem in Shorapur, Hunsagi and Yadgir. In Yadgir, drinking water was supplied once every alternate day from the Bhima. But, there was a problem in Gurmitkal taluk headquarters and village.
Mr. Kandkur questioned why drinking water had not reached Gurmitkal and 31 villages under the multi-village drinking water scheme taken up at a cost of ₹56 crore?
Deputy Commissioner R. Snehal said that pipelines laid for the project were broken in many parts and ₹1.5 crore was needed to complete the repair works. She will send a proposal to Kalyan Karnataka Regional Development Board (KKRDB) to release the grant and will complete the repair work in the next six months ensuring drinking water to the people.
Dialysis centres
Mr. Darshanapur and Mr. Kandkur suggested that the officials set up dialysis centers at Gurmitkal taluk hospital to ensure free treatment to the needy after the officials of Health and Family Welfare said that of a total nine dialysis centers in the district, five were in Yadgir and two each in Shorapur and Shahapur and there were none in Gurmitkal.
Lack of staff
The officials of Animal Husbandry Department said that lack of staff including doctors has impacted service to livestock during an epidemic. The district had 393 posts, of which 192 are vacant. However, vaccinations to 1.66 livestock for Lumpy Skin Disease and FMD have been administered. Officials further said that ₹37.6 lakh compensation against the death of 246 livestock was distributed and the compensation of ₹18.8 lakh against the death of 80 livestock is yet to be released. Then, the Minister told the officers to make an effort to fill vacancies from outside sources.
The Minister also reviewed the progress of the other departments.
Raja Amareshwar Naik, MP, Garima Panwar, Chief Executive Officer, C.B. Vedamurthy, Superintendent of Police, Shanabasappa Koteppagol, Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Shalam Hussaian, Assistant Commissioner and district-level officials were present.
(Those in distress or those having suicidal tendencies can call Arogya Sahayavani Ph.: 104 for help.)
