Representatives of industry in Mysuru have expressed concern over the shortage of staff at the District Industries Centre (DIC) in Mysuru after two senior officials were found engaging in irregularities by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
General Secretary of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Council, Mysuru, Suresh Kumar Jain has drawn the attention of Minister of Industries Murugesh Nirani to the severe staff crunch at the DIC in Mysuru, which is bound to affect industries in the region.
Though the DIC on Sayyaji Rao Road in Mysuru should have about 15 staff members, there are just three members at present: the superintendent, a typist and an attender. “The superintendent is not empowered to take any decision. Our petitions and grievances are sent by email, which is not accessible to these employees,” lamented Mr. Jain.
He pointed out that the DIC in Mysuru housed the Regional MSME Facilitation Council covering eight districts – Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Kodagu, besides Mysuru. “When industries from these districts file applications for recovery of dues from public sector enterprises, State and Central government departments besides large industries, there is nobody to receive their applications,” he said.
The situation had arisen after Joint Director of DIC D.K. Lingaraju and Deputy Director L. Meghala were caught earlier this week for allegedly demanding a bribe from an industrialist to release subsidy.
The industrialist from Mysuru had set up a unit after obtaining a loan of ₹2 crore from Karnataka State Finance Corporation (KSFC) in 2019. After relocating the unit, he had applied for and was sanctioned a subsidy of ₹25 lakh. The accused officials of DIC had demanded a bribe of ₹1.25 lakh from the industrialist to release the subsidy.
The industrialist, who had paid the first instalment of ₹25,000, complained to the ACB, which arrested the officials when the balance amount was paid at the DIC office on Sayyaji Rao Road earlier this week.
“We don’t know how many days the case will go on. It may take six months or a year. We want the government to immediately appoint officials to the DIC so that work goes on smoothly,” said Mr. Jain.
The MSME Council of Mysuru has appealed to Mr. Nirani and Commissioner, Department of Industries and Commerce Ms. Gunjan Krishna to take necessary steps to fill the vacancies in the DIC in Mysuru and address the staff crunch issue.
