The anger and ire of members of Vijayapura Zilla Panchayat against panchayat president Neelamma Meti continued on the second day of the general meeting here on Thursday with members cutting across party lines accusing her of failing to keep officers under control and not discharging her responsibilities properly.
Ms. Meti faced ire during a review of Animal Husbandry Department works when a member Mahantgouda Patil wanted to know from the District Veterinary Officer why ₹ 40 lakh granted by the government lapsed last year and what efforts were made to bring the funds back.
To this, the official did not give any satisfactory reply. Mr. Patil asked Chief Executive Officer Vikas Suralkar to take action against the official as he was not doing his job properly.
Mr. Suralkar told that meeting that a complaint filed against him was already pending before the government and no action had been taken against him so far. At this time, another member Umesh Kolkur wanted to know from the panchayat president why she had not made any efforts to get funds back to the district as she has the powers to get it done with the help of the Animal Husbandry Minister.
Ms. Meti replied that she has asked the official to take necessary action. Not satisfied by the reply, many members stood up and asked why she had allowed the funds to lapse when the matter had already come to her notice.
“If the official is responsible for the lapse of funds, then you should also share some of it as you did not prevent it nor did you get the money returned to the district. Merely shifting responsibility on the officials is not enough,” Mr. Kolkur said. He was supported by other members.
On Wednesday, Ms. Meti faced similar wrath of the members when they found that a majority of the members had not received written reply from officials on the allocation of funds to their respective constituencies. The members alleged that as she has no control over the officials, no official was taking the panchayat members seriously.
While reviewing District Health and Family Welfare Department works, Mr. Suralkar directed the official concerned to ensure cleanliness in all government hospitals coming under him.
He also directed him to conduct surprise visits regularly to check prevailing condition in hospitals.
During the meeting, a decision was taken not to grant any construction works to Nirmiti Kendra, a government agency, as there were complaints that the agency’s performance was very poor.