Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said instructions have been given to all Deputy Commissioners (DCs) to reclaim revenue lands which have been encroached upon in their respective districts by land sharks.
Briefing reporters after the two-day meeting of Deputy Commissioners and ZP CEOs of all the 30 districts here on Tuesday, he said large tracts of government land have been encroached across the State and the DCs were directed to remove encroachment, fence the property and put boards declaring them as government property.
“Tahsildars will be held responsible if the reclaimed revenue land is re-encroached upon again,” he stated.
Replying to a question, the Chief Minister said the Cabinet would take a call on the A T Ramaswamy Committee report on encroachment of government land.
The committee has unearthed the encroachment of over 40,000 acres of government land worth `50,000 crore in and around Bangalore. The previous BJP government failed to accept the V Balasubramanian Report on land grabbing.
“Our government is committed to recover the encroached revenue land all over the State,” he added.
Pension Adalat
Siddaramaiah announced that a pension adalat would be soon held in every hobli to redress the woes of pensioners on the spot Assistant commissioners should hold the pension adalat and resolve problems related to pension.
Responsibility has been fixed on DCs to ensure disbursement of pension during the first week of every month. All pension schemes would continue unabated, he noted.
Priority for Water
Expressing concern over severe scarcity of drinking water in both rural and urban areas, Siddaramaiah said he has directed the district authorities to supply water in tankers to villages badly-hit with shortage of water and also to prepare a contingency plan in case of monsoon failure of monsoon.
As many as 157 taluks are reeling under severe drought in the last two years and the condition in 73 taluks is terrible. Fodder and drinking water should be the top priority for the district administrations and they should also make arrangements to to treat and supply flouride-free water, the chief minister said.
Rice at `1/kg soon
CM Siddaramaiah said the government would soon issue an order on selling rice at `1 per kg to BPL card holders. The State requires 2.42 lakh metric tonnes of rice whereas the actual supply from the Centre is 1.7 lakh metric tonnes, he added.
