Mangalore : Shasthavu Sri Bhoothanatheshwara Trust (R) in association with NammaTV is organizing ‘Namma MLA Nottugu Onji Dina’ (One Day with Our MLA), a new programme for fostering direct people’s interaction with their elected representatives.
Announcing this at a press meet held at Hotel Moti Mahal on Thursday, 13th February, 2014, Sri Vijaynath Shetty, Chief Co-ordinator of the programme, said: “People keep complaining about their elected representatives and get a chance to express their voice only once in five years when elections are held. The same cycle has been repeating over and over gain since last few decades with no concrete results. The outcome is that MLAs keep changing and there is no improvement in their area for so many years. This is a very tragic situation. I feel that if more interaction is there between the MLAs and their constituents when they are still in power, no time is lost and better results can be expected as it will keep the MLAs on their toes. Hence we are organizing this programme to strengthen democracy at the grassroots so that the benefits can actually reach the people.”
He has further clarified that this is not a partisan programme and all elected representatives, belonging to all parties, will be invited to interact with the people. “So far people compare only between ‘performing’ and ‘non-performing’ MLAs. Our objective is to raise the bar higher and foster healthy competition for better performance among all elected representatives,” Sri Vijaynath Shetty added.
“I came here as it is my native place and it is my dream to make this region better. When it comes to development of the region, we should rise about party politics, religious, communal and caste identities and work together to make this a model region of the country,” he said.