Udupi: Deputy Commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis said on Wednesday that all departments should meet their targets in selecting beneficiaries under the Special Component Plan and Tribal Sub Plan for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The selection of beneficiaries should be done in a transparent manner, she said.
She was chairing a review meeting on the Special Component Plan and Tribal Sub Plan at the District Offices Complex here.
Ms. Francis said that it was incumbent that the departments start selecting beneficiaries for both these plans soon. While selecting the beneficiaries, it was incumbent upon the departments to exercise diligence to see that the beneficiaries selected last time, were not repeated this year.
All the departments should submit the reports on the progress made by them with regard to both these plans to the Department of Social Welfare by the fifth of every month. Generally, the departments were meeting the targets with regard to both the plans in the district, she said.
Ms. Francis said that since there was a possibility of Model Code of Conduct being announced for the elections to the urban local bodies in Udupi district, the selection of beneficiaries in the urban areas should be given priority. Once the Model Code of Conduct came into force, the process of selection would get stalled, she said.
The Deputy Commissioner said that there were some complaints by the leaders of Dalit Sangharsh Samiti that the beneficiaries were not being selected in a transparent manner in the Udupi municipality. Hence, the Udupi municipality should issue a paper notification for this purpose, which was done regularly, and designate a particular day and invite applications from the beneficiaries.
On such a designated day, all those who wanted to apply could visit the municipal office and the case workers could sit exclusively to accept their applications. This would help do away with all complaints. Ultimately, based on eligibility, the municipal council and the municipal commissioner would select the beneficiaries, Ms. Francis said.
Nagesh Raikar, Deputy Secretary of Zilla Panchayat, and other district-level officers, were present.