Siddaramaiah asks officials to pull up socks

Mangalore Today/DHNS

Bangalore, May 27, 2013 : Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today asked the bureaucracy to immediately put the administration back on track to dispel the general perception that it had collapsed in the state.

 

"I want the bureaucracy to pull up their socks and put in place the administration. The general perception is that it has collapsed in the previous BJP rule. I want officials to make a drastic change in the administration in the next six months or else, strict action will be taken against them," he warned top bureaucrats attending a high-level meeting here.

Siddaramaiah said he wanted a drastic change in the administration in the next six months.

He also took exception to several departments not submitting utilisation certificates to the Centre over utilisation of funds allotted through central schemes.

"Without utilisation certificates we cannot get additional central grants," he said.

He said government is committed to correct utilisation of central funds in MGNREGA scheme as the state had got a bad name due to large-scale irregularities in its utilisation under the scheme during the BJP rule.


Aadhaar: Govt to set up UID centers

The state government has decided to set up UID centers in all taluks in order to expedite registrations for ‘Aadhaar’ cards by people across Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Sunday.

 

Speaking to media persons after chairing a meeting with Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, UIDAI, chief secretary S.V. Ranganath and other senior officials, Siddaramaiah said these cards should be made available particularly for those belonging to the weaker sections so that they would be able to receive the benefits of various schemes of the Union and state governments.

He instructed officers concerned to set up registration facilities in all taluks to help people sign up for the cards. Nilekani said at least three crore people in the state had registered for UID cards so far while about 2.2 crore had received ‘Aadhaar’ cards. In the country, these cards were issued to 34 crore of the 40 crore people who had applied for them.