Patriotic Spirit Marks I-day Celebrations in Udupi District
Pics by Prasanna Kodavoor, Team Mangalorean
Udupi: The 70th Independence Day was celebrated in a patriotic spirit with pomp at the Beednagudde Ground, here on Monday, August 15.
State minister for Sports, Youth Affairs and Fisheries Pramod Madhwaraj hoisted the national flag. He received a guard of honour from the district police force, NCC, Scouts and Guides.
Top scorers of the district in 2015-16 SSLC and PUC exams were honoured on the occasion. The cultural programmes with the essence of devoted nationalistic fervour marked the finale of the Independence day celebrations. As a part of Kotivriksha Abhiyan, the minister planted saplings in the stadium.
In his address, Pramod Madhwaraj, briefing over various development projects taken up by the government in the district, said that the people friendly administration by the state government has aided many development programmes to ensure all round development.
Referring to the effective implementation of social security schemes in the district, Pramod said that 25155 beneficiaries for Sandhya Suraksha Yojana, 2921 beneficiaries for Manaswini, 25 beneficiaries for Maithri and 10348 beneficiaries for Vidhwa Vethana Yojana have benefited from the schemes in the district.
The state government introduced Bapuji Seva Kendras in the Gram Panchayats wherein 100 different services provided by various departments can be availed by the rural population. Under this scheme, citizens can apply for income certificates, caste certificates, Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops (RTCs), landholding certificates among others by paying a nominal fee. Besides, they can pay their electricity bills and property tax at these centres. “The scheme will help people get access to 100 services within their panchayat limits, which were restricted to only taluk offices.
Students studying in government schools from classes one to 10 will get a pair of shoes and two pairs of socks. Under the scheme, 59665 students will be getting the benefits. The budget allocates Rs 58.67 crore to improve infrastructure in government schools and colleges for the construction of new buildings, toilets, libraries, water facilities, etc. For developing the SC/ST colonies the government has released 7.3 crore and Rs 80 lakh for constructing the Smaudaya Bhavan in the district.
Asserting that the State government has taken up farmer-friendly measures, the minister said that with mechanized farming being the need of the hour, Rs 140.78 crore has been released to purchase and distribute farming equipment and tools to farmers. A proposal has been sent to the government under the Paschima Vahini scheme for the project worth Rs 537 crore for 432 vented dams and salt water walls at the dams.
The government has released Rs 5 crore each for the new administrative building and solid waste management and Rs 3 crore released for infrastructural development in the newly announced Kaup Municipality, he added.
Deputy commissioner Venkatesh, Zilla Panchayat president Dinakar Babu, Superintendent of Police K T Balakrishna, ZP CEO Priyanka Mary Francis, president of Udupi CMC Meenakshi Madhava, Veronica Cornelio president KSDL, Nalini Pradeep president TP and others were present.
