Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, May 25: Dakshina Kannada zilla panchayat (ZP), at it session held on Tuesday May 24, took some proactive steps including formation of a house committee to probe irregularities amounting to Rs 90 lac allegedly committed by Integrated Tribal Development Programme (ITDP) officer, Patalappa. An official, who had demanded bribe for sinking of bore well, was made to apologize.
The general session of the ZP earmarked most of its time for discussing ways and means to regulate corruption. The discussion began after Fakeera M, ZP member, complained that the bill collector of the gram panchayat in Savanoor had misused the money collected by him from the villagers. The ZP members forgot their party affiliations in vociferously demanding for stringent steps against corruption, in view of a number of irregularities being committed by officials. Misuse of funds amounting to Rs 70,000 at Koila, corruption in rigging of bore wells under Ganga Kalyana scheme, alleged scam at Markanja etc were discussed threadbare.
ZP in-charge chief executive officer, Shivarame Gowda, explained that Patalappa had transferred Rs 41 lac from the ITDP accounts in Corporation Bank to an account opened in State Bank of India. Another Rs 10 lac, which was brought by him from Bangalore central office, was directly credited to this new account. A total of Rs 90 lac was transferred through operations like these to his accounts with cooperative societies in Chitamani and Kolar besides other banks, he said. “As soon as the incident came to light, a criminal case was registered against the official on April 29. As per our recommendation, the social welfare department has suspended him. As he has fled, the police are searching for him. Complaints have also been filed against officials of institutions to which funds were transferred. Police team also visited Kolar for investigation. Although Patalappa’s mobile records revealed that he was in Tirupati, he could not be traced there,” he explained.
The ZP expressed the apprehension about the possible involvement of several other officials in a scandal in which ITDP officer, Patalappa, has swindled government funds to the tune of Rs 90 lac before decamping. They sought clarification from the chief executive officer of the zilla panchayat and chief accounts officer on this aspect. After discussions spanning over two hours, ZP president, Shylaja Bhat, announced that a house committee will be formed for conducting in-depth investigation into the issue.
MLA U T Khader drew the attention of the house towards the problems faced by Anganwadi centres. The officer concerned said that the ZP is yet to receive government grant in this connection, and that the ZP has been releasing grants to these centres on its own at present. He also said that steps will be taken to disburse honorarium on behalf of the central and state governments to Anganwadi workers together shortly.
ZP member, C K Chandrakala, complained that district manager of Dr B R Ambedkar SC ST Development Corporation, Damodar Naik, had talked to her derisively, when she had enquired with him about the delay in the installation of bore wells. Another member, Balakrishna Suvarna, said that he has records to prove that this officer had demanded a bribe of Rs 7,000 each from certain beneficiaries belonging scheduled castes and tribes. After pressure was mounted on him by the members and the chief executive officer, Naik apologised for his mistakes, and assured not to repeat them in future.