Karnataka - Bangalore

`Record number of files pending'

Special Correspondent

The largest is in the departments held by the Chief Minister: H.K. Patil

BANGALORE: Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council H.K. Patil has called upon the Lokayukta to speed up file clearance in the Government. The number of pending files, now at around 1.41 lakh, was on the increase with the largest number being in the departments held by the Chief Minister, he said.

He told presspersons here on Wednesday that the Government was misleading the people by stating that the number of pending files now was much less than in 2002.

Mr. Patil said that eight Ministers of the coalition Government had kept pending files of their departments out of the purview of the Government website (Sachivalaya Vahini). This list includes Minister for Industries Katta Subramanya Naidu, he said. Further, the computerised e-Governance system also showed that the pending files (as on June 3) in the office of the Chief Minister was just one while it was zero in the office of the Chief Secretary and two in the office of the Additional Chief Secretary. On the compensation of Rs. 25,000 per hectare to be paid to sugarcane growers in distress, Mr. Patil said the Government should withdraw the optimum limit of 10,000 hectares for which the compensation would be paid and raise the compensation to Rs. 30,000 per acre. The amount should be paid immediately, he said.

Mr. Patil also expressed opposition to the common entrance test for postgraduate courses in the universities as being against the interest of the students who are from remote areas of the State. Further, it would undermine the autonomy of the universities, he said.

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