Roads damaged before time: Minister Krishna Byre Gowda asks contractors to repair
Dakshina Kannada district progress review meeting
Mangaluru, August 21: Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Krishna Byre Gowda directed the officials concerned to get the damaged roads repaired from the contractors as the roads were damaged before time.
Presiding over a progress review meeting at the zilla panchayat hall here on Tuesday, the Minister said that the contractors have the time of five years to maintain the roads. So, before people point towards the damaged roads due to rains, the officials concerned should get those roads repaired from the contractors. Out of 8,336 km length road, 705 km of road would come under the contractors maintenance period. So, the contractors should be sent the circulars immediately and the copy of which should also be sent to the respective MLAs, he said.
Except the roads damaged due to rains, remaining roads should be repaired after the rainy season, for which funds should be accumulated from all sources, he added.
Increase target of ‘Jaladhara’ scheme
The target of the ‘Jaladhara’ scheme introduced to counter the drought situation should be increased in the district. In each village, at least 50 kindi anekattu should be constructed. So far, out of 460 such barrages, 298 were completed which is a good progress. But the target should be increased to strengthen the MGNREGS, he said.
Out of total 29 new gram panchayats in the district, six gram panchayats have new buildings, nine buildings were in progress and 14 others were not taken up due to some reasons. Out of 230 gram panchayats, 138 gram panchayats have revised the tax slabs, ZP CEO Dr MR Ravi said.
District Minister UT Khader, ZP president Meenakshi Shantigodu, vice president Kasturi Panja, standing committee presidents Janardhan Gowda, UP Ibrahim and Anitha Shetty, MLA Rajesh Nayak Ulleppadi and others were present.
Minister takes officials to task
When the officials tried to avoid the questions in the meeting, the Minister became furious and took them to task. Though all the officials were given agenda and meeting notice one week earlier, some of the officials have not prepared anything. At least, listen to his words now and work, he said.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
