Janata Dal (Secular) Floor Leader in the Legislative Assembly H.D. Kumaraswamy has said the Congress government’s commitment to provide a transparent, corruption-free and clean administration has remained on paper. He alleged corruption is rampant among officials, particularly in the Revenue Department.
Speaking on the debate on motion of thanks to the Governor’s address on Thursday, the JD(S) leader said the government has admitted that it is unable to exercise control over officials, and laxity on the part of civil servants has led to tardy progress of several welfare schemes.
Officials of the Revenue Department have been found seeking bribes for issuing khatas and registration of land. A total of 1,25,734 applications for khatas are pending before the department. Nearly 14,000 applications were submitted just a year ago, he said.
“If employees do not perform, what is the necessity of hiking their pay every year,” he asked. A Dalit family at K.R. Puram in Bangalore had lost four acres and a developer grabbed the land, the JD(S) leader said, during a 100-minute speech in the House.
He said the Bhoomi monitoring cell, an online management and delivery of land records, has become a “manipulating” cell. Several small and marginal farmers have been able to avail of zero per cent interest crop loans even without having proper land records in their names.
Nearly 25 lakh podi land (revenue land) cases are pending before the government and farmers have no official land records.
Referring to various reports on land encroachments in Bangalore, he demanded a CBI probe into land grabbing by the land mafia.
Several housing cooperative societies have violated rules and grabbed land, he alleged.
Noting that law and order had been deteriorating in the last six months, Mr. Kumaraswamy said gambling and single-digit lottery have ruined the lives of the poor. He also demanded early implementation of the Yettinahole project for meeting drinking water requirements of the drought-hit taluks of Kolar, Tumkur and Chickballapur.
