Separation of KSRTC BC Road depot from Mangalore division opposed

P Keshava, State Committee Member of Samithi, said at a press meet here on Tuesday that BC Road depot, which is 24km away from Mangalore city, should not be bring under the jurisdiction of proposed Puttur sub-division as people from BC Road depend more on Mangalore for administrative purposes. The BC Road depot should be attached to the Mangalore division of the KSRTC at any cost, he added.

People in the region will not be benefited through the formation of a new sub-division at Puttur. Hence, KSRTC authorities should think of forming a new division based in Madikeri or Udupi, he suggested.

Further, he demanded that KSRTC authorities should give priority to candidates from Dakshina Kannada district while appointing staff for Mangalore division. The division faces severe staff shortage, as employees from other districts manage to get transfer to their native places immediately after they are posted in Mangalore, he pointed out.

He said 50% of reservation should be given to local people during recruitment.

Acquire Ambedkar Bhavan

Mr Keshava also urged the government to acquire Ambedkar Bhavan, which was constructed during time of then Chief Minister of Karnataka Ramakrishna Hegde on the premises of Uppinangady Pre-University College. He said the college is using the Bhavan as library.

“Uppinangady Gram Panchayat should acquire the Bhavan and allow people to utilize it to conduct programmes and functions,” he said.

Action against MCC official

Samithi also demanded stringent action against a Junior Engineer in the Development Cell of Mangalore City Corporation, who allegedly misbehaved with Dalit Mayor Pravin Anchan during a review meeting.

Mr Keshava said if the Junior Engineer was a Dalit, they would have not turned back to suspend him immediately. “This is the 'disrespect' shown by the bureaucrats to the post of Mayor,” he said.

Mayor had advised twice to the concerned officials to hold a review meeting on the effective utilization SC/ST Development Fund. However, officials did not pay attention to the Mayor. He urged the MCC to hold the meeting before monthly meeting.

Vishwanatha Bolloor, Chandra Kumar, Somanath and Dinakar Mulky were present.