Bengaluru: Responding to critics, who are calling his 'grama vastavya' or village stay programme a gimmick, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy asserted on Wednesday that it was aimed at bridging the gap between the government and the people in the state's villages.
"I am not bothered about such criticism. The aim of the grama vastavya is to spend a whole day in a village and try to solve the people's problems on the spot. It is not a gimmick or politically motivated," he said, addressing a day-long conference of deputy commissioners, regional commissioners and chief executive officers here.
Mr Kumaraswamy explained that his latest village outreach programme was a little different from the one he had launched in 2006 when he stayed in a house in a village to hear the people's problems. This time, he intended to reach the village at around 10 am, give a patient hearing to the people till the evening and then rest in a local government school building.
"I have learnt through the media that a village selected for my visit on June 21 has an overhead tank which has not been repaired for the last five or six years. I will make sure the district administration attends to this immediately. Similarly, a number of issues will be resolved on the spot," he said.
Noting that many problems that could be solved at the district level, were being brought to his attention because the local officials failed to address them, Mr Kumaraswamy instructed senior officials present to visit key departments in the districts and taluks to monitor their functioning and make sure they responded to people's problems without delay.
The Chief Minister was full of praise for the revenue department, however, for tackling the severe drought in the districts over the last few months despite the model code of conduct being in force for the elections.
"They took care of providing drinking water to remote villages and also fodder for the cattle. The involvement of officials is very important for effective implementation of welfare schemes," he underlined.
