Mysuru: Karnataka with a population of about four crores is the seventh most rural populous State and the eighth biggest rural State by area in the country. Hence, there is a separate Department to cater to this big chunk of population and area, said Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister (RDPR) Krishna Byre Gowda.

Addressing a two-day progress review meeting of Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officers (ZP CEOs) and Deputy Secretaries in the Abdul Nazeer Saab auditorium at the ZP Office premises here this morning, Byre Gowda said that the responsibility of the people’s representatives and the bureaucrats to concentrate on development works in rural areas on a priority basis becomes important.

Speaking on  Swachh Bharat Mission, he said that though the State is making good progress in this area, still a lot needs to be done and it depends on how the CEOs and Dy. Secretaries work.

Regarding implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, he pointed out that there was very little progress when one looks at the monthly report and said that everyone should work hard to see that it is implemented properly.

If there is one area where everyone’s concentration is required, it is the drinking water issue. Summer is fast approaching and there are many drought-hit taluks and regions in the State. The Government is spending huge amounts of money and each ZP is getting Rs.4.5 crore and already Rs.130 crore has been released. If additional funds are required then plans should be made to seek allocation in advance, he said. With regard to road development, depending on the type of work like patch work or construction of new roads, the estimates must be given in advance to take up such works on a priority basis, he said.

The Minister was very caustic when it came to tax collection in Gram Panchayats, as he found that most of the officials were lax in discharging their duties. Only 53 per cent has been collected at present and the dues were mounting. Unless the taxes are collected regularly, how was it possible to provide basic services and amenities, he wondered.

Coming down heavily on CEO and Deputy Secretary of Shivamogga ZP for slow pace and hardly any development, he said  it was the most backward district in development works. The engineers there did not even bother to do a proper cut and paste job of estimates. He asked all the officials there to be pro-active.

He lauded the efforts of Bengaluru Rural ZP as it had shown 90 per cent progress in development works, while Kodagu showed only 30 per cent progress. He asked the officials in Kodagu to attend to drinking water problems in advance in areas like Somwarpet.

He called upon the CEOs and Deputy Secretaries to participate in the Principal Secretary-level ‘Chintana Mantana’ meetings regularly at Bengaluru and come out with new programmes so that the RDPR Department can place these programmes before the Cabinet for approval.

ZP CEOs and Deputy Secretaries from 30 districts including Mysuru ZP CEO K. Jyothi, Deputy Secretary K.M. Shivakumar Swamy, RDPR Principal Secretary L.K. Atheeq, Water Supply Commissioner Vishal, RDPR Secretary M.K. Aiyappa, Water Supply Chief Engineer Prakash Kumar, RDPR Directors M. Kempegowda and Bhuvanahalli Nagaraj, KRIDL (Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited) Chief Engineer Mahadevaswamy and SIRD (State Institute of Rural Development) Director Shilpa Raj were present at the meeting.

This is the first time that such a progress review meeting is being held in Mysuru as all these days it was being held in Bengaluru.