Karnataka

Chickballapur yet to get district office complex

CHICKBALLAPUR: When Chickballapur district was formed by splitting Kolar district in September 2007, the people of the new district were overjoyed. The long-standing demand of the people of Chickballapur, Gauribidanur, Bagepalli, Gudibande, Shidlaghatta and Chintamani taluks had been fulfilled.

There was the hope that the overall administration in these backward taluks would improve and also the quality of life. However, 15 months later, there is a sense of disappointment. The acute shortage of staff in all government offices and the inordinate delay in creating a district office complex have affected the functioning of various departments and caused inconvenience to the public.

After Chickballapur became the district headquarters, people from far-off taluks such as Gauribidanur have been spared the ordeal of travelling to Kolar for official work. That apart, the formation of the new district has not helped the people much.

People have to wait for a long time to get their work done at all most all the government offices because of staff shortage, says H.V. Manjunath, the former president of the Gauribidanur Taluk Panchayat.

Sources in the district administration told The Hindu that although there was a shortage of staff in various offices, it had not crippled the routine functioning of these departments. Employees were putting in extra hours to ensure that the public did not “feel the pinch”, they claimed.

Even the Deputy Commissioner’s office is functioning with only half the sanctioned staff strength. Employees have been drawn from different taluk offices. As most of them have no experience of working in a district office, it has affected the functioning of the Deputy Commissioner’s office too, according to sources.

In the all-important Department of Agriculture, over 50 per cent of the nearly 240 posts are vacant. Even among the existing workforce, around 40 are Group D employees. Thus, most of the government programmes are not reaching farmers and work has been crippled at the Raitha Samparka Kendras in all the taluks. Several technical officer posts are vacant.

Although it has been 15 months since Chickballapur became a district, the Government has not taken steps to establish a district office complex.

Most of the government offices are functioning in rented buildings. As many of the offices such as the District Employment Exchange are located in small houses situated in narrow lanes or in remote areas, people are finding it difficult to find them.

The Deputy Commissioner’s office, the zilla panchayat office and around 10 other offices are located in the Sericulture Department’s warehouse at Chadulupura village, 8 km from Chickballapur town.

Although land has been identified on Shidlaghatta Road for the district office complex, the foundation stone-laying ceremony keeps getting postponed for various reasons, say sources.

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