Hassan: Minister for Public Works, H.D. Revanna trained his guns on Hassan Deputy Commissioner, Priyanka Mary Francis here on Wednesday, warning she would be held responsible for any unrest among the farmers if adequate steps were not taken to distribute seeds to potato growers, a major crop in the district.
At a press conference, Mr Revanna said if unrest among farmers led to violence and firing, Ms Francis would be responsible. "The rains have not yet arrived in the district and so this has been a quiet period for sowing. But if they arrive in a week or so, sowing will begin and farmers will stand in queue for potato seeds. The district administration must be ready to distribute them. But the deputy commissioner has not done anything so far to provide the seeds and this could lead to a rush later on," he maintained.
Continuing to target Ms Francis , the minister, who is also in charge of Hassan district, said Rs 8 crore meant for tackling the drought was lying unused in the DC's account when there was acute drinking water scarcity in Arasikere taluk.
Mr Revanna wanted the Election Commission of India to relax the model code of conduct in force for the Lok Sabha elections to make it easier for officials to carry out drought relief work on a war footing.
Responding to the minister's concerns, district officials said it had a stock of 20 metric tonnes of potato seeds and distribution will start once the sowing operations began. "If any trader is found selling potato seeds for a higher rate than agreed action will be taken," they warned.
