As funds are readily available for the development of Ballari, Ballari in-charge Secretary K.V. Trilok Chandra has directed officials to make use of funds for the development of the district.
“Ballari is one of the backward districts in the State. The border district needs special attention. There is no dearth of funds. There is abundant money, including government grants and the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) funds. We need to have a proper plan to effectively make use of the available money for the development of the district,” Mr. Chandra, who is also Secretary to Chief Minister, said.
He was speaking at a meeting of senior officers at the Zilla Panchayat Conference Hall in Ballari on Tuesday. The meeting was convened to review the progress of works taken up by different departments.
“The officers should draw up plans to address the problems that the district may face shortly and not just the problems in sight at present. Arid districts like Ballari are bound to face drinking water problems and scarcity of fodder in the summer. We need to be prepared well in advance with meticulous plans to address such issues,” he said.
Taking stock of the district’s performance in the SSLC examinations in the previous years, Mr. Chandra told the officials concerned to ensure that the district’s performance in this academic year is better than its performance in the previous years.
“The quality of education at the school level has diminished. The officials in the Department of Public Instruction should take note of the situation and come up with special drives and programmes to enhance the quality of education,” Mr. Chandra said.
Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Department Officer Gupta told the meeting that his department has identified 114 villages in the district that may face drinking water crisis and spoke about the preparations made for handling the situation.
When the issue of illegal sand mining in the district was taken up for discussion, Mr. Chandra did not agree with the officials of the Mines and Geology Department who said that they are imposing fines to curb the menace of illegal mining.
“Imposing fines is not enough. You need to book cases against the offenders and make sure that the culprits are punished,” Mr. Chandra said.
On JN.1 variant of COVID-19 virus spreading in the neighbouring States, Mr. Chandra specifically directed the officials concerned to take extra care and also preventive steps to contain the spread of the virus as the district has an airstrip which is frequently used by State and national leaders.
“You have the Jindal airstrip which is frequently used by national and State-level leaders as a transit point during their travel. You have to take extra care in that area. Ballari is exposed to neighbouring States by sharing its inter-State border. The chances are hence high for the spread of the virus. Put in place all mechanisms to prevent the spread of the virus,” Mr. Chandra said.
A poster for spreading awareness among the people on the registration process for the Yuva Nidhi programme was released at the meeting.
