Mangalore : Minister for Urban Development Vinay Kumar Sorake said that the department will recruit 1,000 civic workers very soon.

Speaking at the press meet held on October 18, he said that at present there are around 27,000 civic workers working on the contract basis in the State. Most of them are undergoing harassment in the hands of the contractor who fails to pay the salary and deny them from the benefits. Hence the department will recruit the workers to regularize the services of those who are serving on contract basis. The department will submit the proposal to the government for approval.

He also said that government has already upgraded Ullal and Puttur TMC to CMC and when the public objected it the department scrutinized the objections and issued a notification in this regard. Further, the gram panchayat having population above 10,000 will be upgraded to Town Panchayat. The State government already has 160 proposals in this regard.

Sorake also said that there was a need to regulate urban development authorities in state and hence the government is planning to appoint an IAS officer at the state-level to monitor the activities of the urban development authorities.

Minister said that urban development authorities have been directed to develop layouts of 50X50 site, instead of 60X40 sites. The Regional Commissioner will submit a report and later will be discussed on the misappropriation in layouts created at Chelyar, he added.