Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah orders suspension of education officials for poor performance in district

Hosapete: In a stern address during the Vijayanagar district progress review meeting on Friday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ordered suspension of District Deputy Public Instruction (DDPI) due to poor academic performance in the district.

CM Siddaramaiah, who was dealing with various administrative issues related to agriculture, social welfare and law enforcement, turned his attention to the alarming decline in educational performance in the district. Angered that the district has fallen from 10th to 27th position in the Human Development Index in terms of education, the CM asked the DDPI why he could not be held responsible for it.

During the meeting, CM Siddaramaiah made a hasty call to Education Minister Ritesh Kumar Singh and enquired about the dismal educational performance in the district and immediately ordered the suspension of the DDPI.

He suggested that the CEO and the Block Education Officers (BEOs) should be notified and directed to make serious plans for the educational progress of the district. Minister in-charge Zameer Ahmed asked the DDPI to walk out of the meeting.

Siddaramaiah also issued a stern warning to the officials of the Agriculture Department, stressing that any shortage of seeds and fertilizers would attract disciplinary action.

He insisted that a second round of seeds must be distributed if the first seeds did not germinate.

Deputy Commissioner MS Diwakara reported that the crop surveys were conducted scientifically and the funds were fairly disbursed to farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

The officials informed the Prime Minister about the 34 suicides of farmers in 2023-24 and three suicides in the current year.

The CM questioned whether compensation had been paid to the affected families and expressed dissatisfaction over the delays in disbursement of compensation in five cases due to pending reports from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). Siddaramaiah directed the officials to obtain the FSL reports within 20 days to expedite the compensation process.

The problem of 52 drinking water plants not functioning properly was also discussed at the meeting. The Prime Minister directed the officials to rectify these problems immediately.

On the issue of sanitation, Siddaramaiah questioned why the district was declared open defecation free when there are households without toilets. He directed the officials to conduct a house-to-house survey through Panchayat Development Officers (PDOs) and ensure that the remaining toilets are constructed before the next session of the Karnataka Development Programme (KDP).

The CM stressed the importance of visiting the hostels of the welfare department and checking the quality of learning environment and food on a regular basis. He also asked why the academic progress of the hostel students of the district was less as compared to the national average. He enquired whether separate coaching sessions were being provided for improvement. He asked why the problem continued despite regular inspections by the officials.