Minister Lad warns officials at KDP meeting

Time of India

4 days ago

Pic: Labour minister Santosh Lad, also the minister in-charge of Dharwad district, releases the publicity material regarding Gruha Arogya Yojana at Dharwad on Monday
Dharwad: District minister Santosh Lad called upon the officials of various departments in the district to ensure that the funds released by the central and state govt for various programmes are utilised in a time frame and targtet is achieved.
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Chairing a quarterly meeting of the district level officers to review the progress in the implementation of Karnataka Development Programmes (KDP) in the district here on Monday, he said the officials of the departments concerned will be personally held responsible if the works are not taken up and the funds lapse due to their negligence. "The officers concerned will have to pay from their pockets and make the lapsed funds good," he said.
The minister informed that in this quarter alone, a total of Rs 1,300 crore has been received from both Union and state govts for various schemes. Of this, Rs 513 crore has been released, and Rs 441 crore has been spent. The overall achievement rate across projects stands at 91%.
"But this is not enough," the minister said. "If the remaining funds are returned unutilised, the officials concerned will be held financially accountable," he warned.
The minister highlighted that the district has a variety of soil suitable for cultivating diverse crops. The govt has already issued soil health cards to farmers, and officials must guide them to select crops accordingly, he said and added that atleast one hobli should be developed as a model.
On MGNREGA
Lad expressed his anguish at the extremely poor implementation of the MGNREGA scheme in the district. "Despite having ample opportunity to create more man-days, officials failed to act, and today the rural poor are not reaping the benefits of MGNREGA," he said.
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As per current targets, the district should have created 80,000 human days this year. However, only 49,000 have been generated so far.
He directed officials from agriculture, horticulture, forest, and sericulture departments to hold immediate joint meetings, conduct a serious review of man-day generation, and submit a report promptly.
The minister expressed frustration at the unsatisfactory answers from several officials. He showed displeasure towards replies from DDPI, horticulture, and sericulture officials, criticising them for their lack of preparedness and accountability.