Mangaluru Hajj Bhavan to be built shortly: Minister Zameer Ahmed
Mangaluru, November 16: Food and Civil Supplies and Minorities and Wakf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan said that land would be identified at Adyar on the outskirts of the city and Hajj Bhavan would be constructed shortly.
Reviewing the works of his departments at the Circuit House here on Friday, the Minister said that the land would be surveyed at Adyar first and Hajj Bhavan would be constructed after acquiring the land, he added.
Due to network problem in 16 fair price shops, Point of Sale (POS) system was not installed due to which, ration was being distributed through coupon system. The problem would be discussed in the government level and solved soon. The owners of fair price shops have installed computers, printers, laptops, POS and other instruments at their own cost and distributing the ration. He has received complaints from the beneficiaries that some fair price shop owners have been denying in issuing cards under the pretext of network problem. The government was planning to have agreement with the private companies to solve network problem, he assured.
The department has the target of distributing gas connections to 1,586 beneficiaries and in the first phase, the department has released funds to the agency to provide gas connection to 1,349 beneficiaries. Total 824 stoves were distributed and gas connection was given to 581 beneficiaries as of now, the officers said.
Responding to it, the minister directed the officials to reach the target under Anila Bhagya scheme by November and the remaining 768 gas connections should be provided immediately.
Those who have applied for inclusion of their names or corrections were not being given the ration cards on time. But the officers drew the attention of the Minister about non-availability of the cards. The Minister said that he would discuss the issue with the department secretary. Total 7,009 applications were pending for issuing new cards and eligible beneficiaries should be identified and issued the cards, he directed.
When officers said that there was less demand for tur dal in the district and more demand for moong dal, the minister said that moong dal would be supplied as per the local demand. He directed the officials to take legal action against those who cheat consumers in weight and measurement.
Scarcity of staff
The district has the scarcity of staff. Among sanctioned posts, nine posts were vacant due to which, programmes were not being implemented effectively. The Minister assured of solving the problem.
Department officer Srinivasaiah, Minority Welfare department officer Usman, Wakf district officer Abubakar, Minority department district manager Sridhar Bhandari and others were present.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Gujarat: Mevani demands collector’s suspension over ‘anti-Dalit’ remark; IAS officer rejects charge
Mahnisagar, Oct 30: Gujarat Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani on Wednesday demanded the suspension of Mahisagar District Collector Neha Kumari, accusing her of making anti-Dalit comments, a charge the bureaucrat rejected.
Mevani’s demand comes a week after he sought similar action against senior IPS officer Rajkumar Pandian for allegedly misbehaving with him and one of his party colleagues.
Mevani targeted Kumari citing a purported video in which she was heard saying that 90 per cent of cases registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, or the Atrocities Act, are used for blackmailing.
The IAS officer termed the lawmaker’s claims “baseless” and an unsuccessful attempt to get political mileage.
Mevani visited Lunawada, the district headquarters, and demanded that an FIR be registered against the collector under the Atrocities Act and that she was suspended over her “insensitive” remarks and “unparliamentary” words.
When one Vijay Parmar went to meet the collector with his grievance at the SWAGAT programme on October 23, she used “unparliamentary” words against him and also insulted the lawyer community by saying they should be “slapped with slippers”, the Vadgam MLA told reporters.
SWAGAT is an initiative of the Gujarat government for the redressal of people’s grievances.
According to Mevani, the collector’s claim that 90 per cent of cases under the Atrocities Act are misused for blackmailing is an insult to the SC and ST communities and amounts to an offence under the Atrocities Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
“We demand Kumari's suspension and that a case be registered against her,” he said.
The district collector called the MLA’s allegations a “political stunt”.
“The man whom the MLA called poor, innocent young friend (Vijay Parmar) has a police case against him, and his brother has more than one case of rape, kidnapping and assault against him,” Kumari said, adding that they keep visiting the collector’s office with grievances.
At the SWAGAT programme on October 23, he pressured the collector to file a case against police officers. When the collector told him that she did not have the power to file a case and that he should approach the superintendent of police (SP) or the court, he continued to pester her over his issue, she said.
He even threatened the officers and told the collector that she was a Brahmin and he would let her know what “section 4 of the Atrocities Act entailed”, she said.
“You can understand the direction in which this MLA wants to take law and order by keeping a person with a criminal history along with him even when the state government is sensitive about children and women,” she said.
The collector said that the way Vijay Parmar is “blackmailing” government employees in the name of the Atrocities Act is not at all right. “The MLA's support to such people makes it difficult for the real complainants and the real victims to get justice,” she said.
Last week, Congress leaders and Dalit community members gathered outside the office of the Director General of Police in the state capital Gandhinagar demanding the suspension of senior IPS officer Rajkumar Pandian over his alleged misbehaviour with Mevani and his party colleague.
