Bhatkal: Minister Mankal Vaidya pulls up Revenue, Labour Departments over poor performance

Bhatkal: September 09 (Bhatkallys News Bureau)  At the quarterly taluk panchayat meeting held in the taluk panchayat hall, district in-charge minister Mankal S. Vaidya expressed strong dissatisfaction with the functioning of the Revenue and Labour Departments and issued a stern warning to officials.

The minister came down heavily on the Revenue Department, pointing out the growing influence of agents which was causing delays in public services. “Even the renewal of hotel licences takes several days. Agents manage to get work done quickly, but ordinary citizens are forced to run around for months. There is a serious mismanagement in the department. Fix it immediately. If complaints are received again, strict action will follow,” he warned.

Questioning the Labour Department’s functioning, Vaidya criticised the rejection of applications under government schemes. “These schemes are meant to reach poor labourers. Rejecting applications causes unnecessary hardship. If such complaints surface again, action will be taken,” he cautioned.

The minister also instructed officials of the Public Works, Municipality and Panchayat engineering divisions to immediately fill potholes on roads during the monsoon. He raised concerns over delays in issuing electricity NOCs for houses and directed HESCOM and PDO officials to ensure every household receives power connections on humanitarian grounds.

Vaidya informed the meeting that steps have been initiated to upgrade Bhatkal Town Municipality into a City Municipality and said the demand to merge surrounding villages into it would be considered. He also stressed that anganwadis should not function in rented premises but must operate from their own buildings.

On transport issues, the minister expressed displeasure and instructed depot managers to resume evening bus services on the Honnavar route and restart night services as earlier.

He further took note of the shortage of specialist doctors in the government hospital and assured that vacant posts would be filled soon. “All required medicines should be procured through the hospital health committee itself. Under no circumstances should patients be asked to buy medicines from outside,” he added.

The meeting was attended by Taluk Panchayat EO Rajesh Mahale, Tahsildar Nagendra Kolashetti, Acting Municipal Council President Altaf Khuroori, Guarantee Scheme Taluk President Raju Naik Koppa, nominated member Bhaskar Naik Kaikini, and various department officials.