Mangaluru: Minister for Social Welfare, H Anjaneya visited the District Congress Office to meet party leaders and members here, on January 11.
Prior to the meeting with the party leaders, he interacted with the mediapersonsand said, “Congress office is my temple. Without visiting the office I cannot proceed to my work.” He further said that the Congress Party is the only party where all the party workers are treated equally. He also recalled the support he received from the senior leaders like Janardhan Poojary, Oscar Fernandes,Manorama Madhwaraj and Veerappa Moily during his initial stages as a Congress party worker. He also said that because of their support and help, today he has become a minister.
He also encouraged the party workers not to be disheartened but to change their way of functioning. “While working in the party, one should be loyal, dedicated and hardworking. With these qualities no one can stop any member from growing in the party.”
He further briefed on the development and welfare of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes. He said, “This is the first government which has thought about the development of the SC/ST and granted 24% funds which is equal to the population of the SC/ST. The amount will be spent for the development of the SC/ST. If any of the concerned officers misuse or delay in utilizing the funds, they will be punished severely. New hostels will be build for the students of SC/ST and backward classes. We are also planning to increase the facilities to the SC/ST and backward class students so that they can pursue their education without any hurdles.”
“There is a demand from the Dalita Sangharsha Samiti to build AmbedkarBhavan. We will finalize the plot and grant the necessary funds to build theBhavan soon.”
When asked about appointing Dalit women in the temple as Archakis, Anjaneya said that God does not know Kannada. “We will discuss the issue of appointing Dalit women in the temple with the Muzrai department and take necessary steps to appoint Archakis in the temple.”
When asked about vacating the people who are staying in the forest area,Anjaneya said that if SC/ST people are living in the forest area and leading their life, no officer will be able to vacate such families from there. He also said that once a month, he will visit the forest area and stay with the Dalit people to know more about their life style. The difficulties they face will help to understand the people better and solve their problems. “So far I have visited 6 districts and stayed with them. Next month I will be going to Virajpet in Kodagu district.”
MLA’s J R Lobo, Moideen Bava and Shanuntala Shetty, Vijay Kumar Shetty, District Congress President Kodijal Ibrahim, Divya Prabha, Sashidhar Hegde,Kallige Taranath Shetty and others were also present.