Date:01/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/12/01/stories/2004120102750300.htm

Karnataka - Belgaum

Council panel admonishes officials

By Our Staff Correspondent

K.C. Kondaiah (centre), chairman of Legislative Council's Applications Committee, at a meeting with senior officials in Belgaum on Tuesday.

BELGAUM, NOV. 30. Senor officials, including the Deputy Commissioner, were reportedly admonished by members of the Legislative Council's Application Committee at a closed-door meeting held here on Tuesday.

The committee chairman K.C. Kondaiah, presided over the meeting. Committee members Veerkumar Patil, M.P. Nadagouda, Satish Jarkiholi, Deputy Commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao and zilla panchayat Chief Executive Officer M.E. Shivalingamurthy were present.

Sources said a senior member of the committee was disappointed at the reply given by the officials. A member asked Mr. Rao to reply to complaints of failure of the district administration to develop tourism sector in the city and the district. It was pointed out that the district administration had not submitted even a signle proposal to the Centre to develop tourism in the past six years.

Ramesh Pattar, Special Deputy Commissioner for Markandeya Irrigation Project, Relief and Rehabilitation Work, was asked to reply to the complaints of tardy progress in implementing the relief package. Later, the committee members visited the project site and met the affected families.

Sources said Mr. Kondaiah asked the officials not to delay development programmes. The committee took up 13 petitions, including complaints of financial irregularities in some of the departments.