DK Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao hands title deeds to owners during ‘Janata Darshana’ event in Bantwal
Bantwal: District In-charge Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao received applications related to various government benefits from citizens in the taluk and also handed title deeds to the site owners during the district-level ‘Janata Darshana’ organized in BC Road here on Wednesday.
Inaugurating the event, the minister said that such events would also be held at taluk-level across the district for senior officials of all government departments to respond to the needs of the people and make the government facilities accessible to citizens. “The state government continues to fulfill the promises made to the people and has provided financial benefits to crores of people in a very short period. The guarantee schemes of Karnataka are models for the entire nation,” Rao said.
“Title deeds have been handed today to more than 177 people in Bantwal taluk to ensure security of land for the owners. The process will continue and more number of people will be provided title deeds for their sites,” he said.
Bantwal MLA Rajesh Nayak, who presided over the programme on Wednesday, directed the government officers to respect the needs of the locals, especially the citizens belonging to financially backward classes, and work at fulfilling the valid requests.
The district in-charge minister received more than 100 petitions, including 74 from residents of Bantwal taluk, in relation to various issues. The people are learned to have asked for a closure of the BC Road toll gate on the National Highway 75. They also urged the minister to ensure the conversion of the Udupi-Kasaragod power transmission line into underground of via sea route for safety of the people. A demand was also made to provide more doctors at the government hospitals, widening of the Vitla-Saradka stretch, construction of an electric sub-station at Kudupadavu and construction of a new bridge across River Nethravathi at Panemangalore.
Dinesh Gundu Rao, who earlier inspected the work on the Polali bridge on the outskirts of Mangaluru, told reporters in Bantwal, “PWD officers have been directed to complete the work prior to May and open it for all traffic before the onset of monsoon. The state government is also examining a proposal for the construction of a new bridge at Polali.”
Referring to sand extraction near the pillars of the bridge, the minister opined, “Stopping illegal mining of sand is difficult as many people will be involved in it. Officials have been directed to install CCTV cameras in the area to keep a watch near the pillars and curb illegal extraction of sand within 500-metre radius of the pillars.”
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Prez nod for FIR against AAP's Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain in Rs 2,000-cr classroom 'scam'
New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI): President Droupadi Murmu has given her approval for the registration of an FIR against AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain in an alleged scam of Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools, sources said.
In 2022, the Delhi government's vigilance directorate recommended a probe into the alleged scam and submitted a report to the chief secretary.
The President has given her approval for registering the FIR against Sisodia and Jain in connection with the alleged scam during their tenures as ministers in the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government, the sources said.
The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), in a report dated February 17, 2020, highlighted "glaring irregularities" in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools by the Public Works Department (PWD).
The President's approval came under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act that pertains to "enquiry or inquiry or investigation of offences relatable to recommendations made or decision taken by public servant in discharge of official functions or duties".
Reacting to the development, senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the BJP of carrying out a witch-hunt against its political rivals.
The BJP has no interest or intention to fulfil the promises it made to the people of Delhi. Its only agenda is to carry out a witch-hunt against its political rivals to stifle the voice of people, the former minister said in a statement.
The BJP-led central government has already decided to prosecute every political adversary of the party and grant approvals to move the case forward but it should wait for the judicial process to begin, he said.
In July 2019, BJP leader Harish Khurana and then AAP rebel MLA Kapil Mishra, now a minister in the Delhi government, lodged a police complaint about the alleged scam.
According to a report prepared by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Delhi government, the complainants alleged that there was a scam worth over Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms and school buildings in Delhi. The work was done at a highly inflated cost by the Delhi government.
The alleged scam involves the construction of around 12,748 classrooms.
The ACB report said the total expenditure incurred for constructing the classrooms and school buildings was around Rs 2,892.65 crore. They were allegedly constructed at the rate of Rs 8,800 per square feet, whereas it was common knowledge that the average construction cost (even for a builder of flats) was around Rs 1,500 per square feet.
The total cost for constructing a classroom and school building, according to the tender awarded, was allegedly around Rs 24.86 lakh per room, whereas such rooms are easily constructed in Delhi at around Rs 5 lakh per room, it said.
The prices were increased almost five times to defraud the taxpayer by siphoning off money from the public exchequer in the garb of construction cost, the report said.
Even for a 5-star hotel, top ultra-luxury quality construction is around Rs 5,000 to Rs 5,500 per square feet, it said.
The complainants submitted a copy of documents in which information received under the RTI Act in respect of the construction of 18 classrooms in the Govt Girls Senior Secondary School, Nathupura, Burari (school ID:-1207111) revealed that they were constructed at a cost of Rs 12 crore, the ACB report said.
