‘First priority will be to allot sites to genuine applicants who have been waiting for decades’

Mysuru: KAS Officer K.R. Rakshith took charge as the In-charge Commissioner of Mysuru Development Authority (MDA) from outgoing Commissioner A.N. Raghunandan at the MDA office on JLB Road here yesterday.

The Government on Monday had issued an order appointing Rakshith as Special Land Acquisition Officer (SLAO) of MDA concurrently holding charge as its in-charge Commissioner. Rakshith was earlier serving as Assistant Commissioner at Mysuru.

Rakshith, a KAS Officer of the 2014 batch, said that he would not belie the trust reposed in him by the Chief Minister, the Urban Development Minister and the District Minister and would try to bring in a people-friendly administration in the Authority.

Maintaining that he would try to form residential layouts after acquiring land from farmers without giving scope for any litigations, Rakshith said his first priority would be to allot sites to genuine applicants who have been waiting for decades to get a site or shelter of their own.

Pointing out that he would look into Group Housing Project aimed at providing housing at affordable costs, he said his other plans include the upgradation of the Master Plan, administrative reforms, securing the Authority’s properties and augmentation of revenue, among others.

He further said that he would take into confidence Deputy Commissioner G. Lakshmikanth Reddy, who is also the MDA Chairman, Officials, MLAs and other elected representatives in upholding the reputation of the Authority. The Government directives and guidelines issued from time to time on the functioning of the new Authority  will be followed, he added.

Meanwhile, the tenure of new MDA Commissioner Raghunandan was just four days. The Government officially notified the formation of MDA on May 23, 2025, following which Raghunandan, who was the Commissioner of MUDA, became its first Commissioner. Now, with Rakshith taking charge as In-charge MDA Commissioner, Raghunandan’s tenure ended in just four days. Raghunandan is said to be awaiting a new posting at Bengaluru.