Dharwad district secretary upset with delay in preparing project estimate, orders issue of show cause notice to executive engineer

Taking serious exception to the failure of an executive engineer of the Panchayat Raj Engineering Department of the government of Karnataka in preparing the estimate despite approval for a project three months ago, the district-in-charge secretary for Dhawad Dr. Ram Prasath Manohar has directed that a show cause notice be issued to the officer.

Chairing a review meeting at the Zilla Panchayat Hall in Dharwad on October 13, Dr. Ram Prasath Manohar pointed out that although approval was granted for the action plan three months ago, the executive engineer had failed to prepare the estimate list, which consequently had caused an unnecessary delay.

He pointed out that Zilla Panchayat’s untied grant of ₹20 crore and the link document estimate amount of ₹8 crore were approved in the first week of July. “But, the estimate list has not been prepared till now. The approved action plan work must commence by the end of October. Otherwise, a recommendation will be made to the government of Karnataka to initiate disciplinary action against the concerned officer,” he said.

Expressing concern over the high maternal mortality rate in Dharwad district, he directed health officials to take preventive measures to bring it down.

On the decrease in the pass percentage of SSLC students,he said that if the results did not improve by at least by 10% when compared to last year, disciplinary action would be initiated against wardens of government hostels and taluk-level officials.

The district in-charge secretary directed officials to ensure that all ongoing work and projects for the current financial year were be implemented within the stipulated time, and warned of holding the concerned officer responsible if grants lapsed. He said that a team of senior official should inspect the work taluk-wise and unit-wise to ensure compliance with regulations.

First in State to complete joint crop loss survey

Pointing out that Dharwad had become the first district in Karnataka to complete the joint crop loss survey under the leadership of the Deputy Commissioner, he directed the officials to ensure that compensation is promptly credited to the bank accounts of farmers.

On the social and educational survey, he stressed the need for achieving 100% of the target by October 18.

Deputy Commissioner Divya Prabhu G.R.J. informed that after having completed the crop loss survey, names of eligible farmers had been uploaded on the compensation portal.

The Deputy Commissioner said that, as per the joint survey, crop loss had been reported on 97,000 hectares, and compensation amounting to ₹85 crore was required. She said that the government of Karnataka had released ₹ 22 crore so far, and the money is being disbursed.

Zilla Panchayat CEO Bhuvanesh Patil, HDMC Commissioner Rudresh Ghali  and other officials were present.