Mangalore; August 15: BPL cards will be issued to financially backward people who hold APL cards. Rural people may send online applications through their respective Gram Panchayats and people who live in urban areas may send their applications through customer service centres, said Food and Civil supply department Deputy Director Sharanabasappa. He gave out the information in the monthly KDP (Karnataka Development Programme) meet held in Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat in Mangalore on August 14, Wednesday.
He told that out of five lakh families in Dakshina Kannada, 1.58 lakh people hold BPL cards. The department has received 16,000 applications for new ration cards and out of these 8,000 families has applied for BPL cards. 5600 new ration cards have been distributed and 700 ration cards are in the printing stage, Sharanabasappa said.
Several norms have been set for the BPL card applicants such as they should own a land less than three acres, they should not own a vehicle with more than 100 cc capacity, should not get monthly electricity bill less than Rs 450 and other norms, he said.
However, the non-LPG APL card holders will be made mandatory to have LPG connection and they will not be getting kerosene, he added.
Another main issue raised was about the vented dams. Alleging that the vented dams in the districts are not maintained properly, Zilla Panchayat President Koragappa Naik, holding the watershed department responsible, expressed his discontentment over the withdrawal of the funds released for Valambra and Peruvaje vented dams, due to non-utilization of funds.
Watershed Development officer who was present during the meeting told that since no funds have been released towards the construction of dams and no tenders are called, the work has been hindered.
Labour awareness
After holding a discussion regarding the facilities available for labourers, labour department officer clarified that no compensation or other benefits could be given to the labourers such as construction workers, if they do not possess an identity card issued by the department, after having registered themselves.
Zilla Panchayat CEO Thulasi Maddineni directed the officials concerned to create awareness among labourers regarding the facilities available for them and regarding the related procedures.
Towards the electrification of anganwadis in Bantwal Taluk, the Taluk Panchayat Official told that the wiring has been done and electric connection is not given.
DK ZP CEO told to complete the remaining work as the electrification will not be complete without the electric connection and hence to carry out necessary procedures for completing the work.
She also demanded a report from the ZP Engineering department on the management of rain water harvesting tanks in the schools of the district, in the wake of poor construction of rain water harvesting tanks throughout the district.
Health and Education Standing committee President Asha Thimmappa Gowda urged the KSRTC officials to deploy more buses in Subrahmanya-Kadaba-Charmadi route during school timings as many students are suffering due to the limited number of buses and their irregular timings.
DK ZP Vice President Ritesh Shetty, Social Justice Standing committee President Phakir, Education and Health standing committee President Asha Timmappa Gowda, Assistant Secretary N R Umesh were present.
Housing schemes
ZP CEO Tulsi Maddineni told that in order to avail the benefits of Indira Awas Yojana, Vajapeyi Vasathi Yojane, Basava Vasati or any other housing schemes, it is mandatory for the beneficiaries of the year 2008-09 to complete the house construction work. If the beneficiaries do not complete the work, their allotted houses should be cancelled by Taluk Panchayat CEO. According to the orders issued by the Housing department Principal Secretary, once the allotted house stands cancelled, the beneficiaries will not be eligible to apply for any other housing scheme, she said.
DHNS
