BPL families in K'taka to get ration cards within 10 days

Mysore, Oct 6 (UNI) The Karnataka Government will issue ration cards to Below Poverty line families within ten days after correcting the anomalies in identifying the beneficiaries, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said today.

Addressing mediapersons after a two-hour-long meeting with State-level Secretaries here, he said he rceived a number of complaints on issuance of ration cards whenever he visited villages and other urban areas.

Stating that a village accountant, assisted by two teachers and panchayat secretary, would identify the beneficiaries at the village level and inform the Deputy Commissioner for immediate action, he said the village accountants would be held responsible for any lapse in the process. At the corporation level, Revenue officials would take care of the process. Besides, new applications should be collected and names of ineligible beneficiaries removed, he added.

Mr Kumaraswamy said the Government will also take up a new housing scheme to construct group houses on the city's outskirtss, for the needy. The government had asked the Housing Board and development authorities to prepare a report.

After approval from the Finance department, the scheme would be introduced throughout the State.

He informed a decision was also taken at the meeting to release Rs 30 crore for the development of extensions on the city outskirts by providing basic facilities like drinking water, sanitation and proper roads. The amount would be released within a week's time and work would commence soon, he added.

The Chief Minister instructed the officials of the Mysore Urban Development Authority and the Corporation to increase tax collections and take action against encroachments of Government land in and around the city within a month.

Mr Kumaraswamy said the government will instal a statue of the then Mysore ruler Sri Jayachamaraja Wadiyar and Mahatma Gandhi in the city and necessary funds for the purpose would be released shortly.

Referring to the violence in Mangalore, he said the Government had taken note of the situation and had instructed the police officials to take necessary steps to bring back normalcy and asked people to maintain calm.

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