Collector K Bhaskar warns Extension Officers of stopping Salaries

 Eluru: West Godavari District Collector K Bhaskar has expressed his anguish over the state of affairs in Gram Panchayats by stating that the field-level Panchayat Secretaries and the Extension officers of Panchayat Raj Department (EOPRDs) were not working with responsibility.

He presided over the review meeting on Gram Panchayats tax collection, sanitation and other issues held at Collectorate here on Friday.

Speaking at the meeting, the Collector said that he had drafted a plan for a clean and green environment in Panchayats.  

Garbage collection from houses, shifting it to dumping yards, making compost from the garbage and other programmes were planned and trying to make a good habitation in the panchayats, he pointed out.

However, he regretted that this had become his dream and no field-level officials were keen on these programmes.

 He questioned the EOPRDs for non-completion of 909 dumping yard sheds construction at a cost of Rs 100 crore.

 He questioned them that even after three-years, why the construction of the sheds was not completed. 

He expressed anger over the EOPRDs stating that though drawing a salary of Rs 72,000 per month, they were not feeling responsibilities. 

About 1,600 green vehicles had been sent to Panchayats to collect garbage from houses and RFID tags attached to every house and monitoring it online daily. 

However, even 10 percent of vehicles were not attending for the garbage collection, he pointed out.

He directed the District Panchayat Officer to issue show-cause notices to the officials who were not staying in the respective Panchayats.  

He warned that the salaries of EOPRDs would be stopped from June, if the garbage collection in villages would not be taken up as a movement by May 31.
  
District Panchayat Officer Mullapudi Venkata Ramana, Divisional Panchayat Officials Chinna Rao, K Ammaji, Mallikarjun Rao, Ramakrishna and others participated in the meeting.