Village stay of deputy commissioners likely to make comeback in Karnataka

The program was discontinued the programme due to the Covid second wave. Even after months of unlocking in most districts, the program has not yet been resumed by the Revenue dept. Now that Covid cases across the state are decreasing, the government has been urged to resume the program.

Bengaluru: The Revenue Department of Karnataka had launched an innovative program called 'Halli Kadege DC Nade' (DC's steps towards villages) in February 2021 during BS Yediyurappa's stint as the state's chief minister. The program encouraged all district commissioners of the state to go into the villages under their care and solve the problems faced by the people on the spot.

As per the program, district commissioners, along with the district officials, have to visit a village panchayat every third Saturday of the month. They then have to listen to people's appeals and settle issues related to pension, land clearance, voter list revision, drought/flood relief, BPL card distribution etc. The program got a good response across the state in the months of February and March. Opposition party MLAs also praised the program and urged the govt to continue the program.

But the program was discontinued due to the Covid second wave. Even after months of unlocking in most districts, the program has not yet been resumed by the Revenue dept. Now that Covid cases across the state are decreasing, the government has been urged to resume the program.

How many cases settled?

DC's had collected a total of 25,285 petitions in 30 districts on the third Saturdays of February & March. Out of those, 12,845 petitions were settled on the spot.

About 12,000 cases remained unresolved due to Covid lockdown. These petitions had been sent to related departments but only a few cases have been solved.

Program to be resumed shortly

"Covid restrictions continued in some districts, while weekend curfew was in force in some places. Now that Covid cases have been reduced, we will make all efforts to resume the program as soon as possible in districts where there is less than 2% positivity rate. We will hold meetings with the revenue ministry on the resumption of the program from next month. This people-friendly program will be resumed shortly," said Tushar Girinath, secretary-general of the revenue department.