HUBBALLI: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah faced the wrath of villagers for delay in payment of wages under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) during inspection of drought relief operations in in Gadag district on Wednesday.
Villagers raised slogans demanding early payment of wages while he was inspecting the historic Magadi lake. They also stepped up their demand for more drought relief works owing to large scale migration of people to urban areas.
Meanwhile, he went down memory lane about his political career during inspection of dried lake in Timmapur village which comes under jurisdiction of Koppal Lok Sabha. Recalling his defeat from the constituency during Lok Sabha election in 1991 as Janata Dal candidate, he claimed that he had lost the election by 10,000 votes owing to sympathy factor following the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Taking officials to task for providing false information with regard to MGNREGS scheme, he reprimanded the deputy conservator of forest Yashpal Ksheerasagar for not knowing Kannada language. He also asked them to achieve targets under the job guarantee scheme within a stipulated period.
The Chief Minister also directed the officials to complete setting up of water purification plants in all villages. He asked them to take up de-silting of 51 lakes on war footing basis.
He got first-hand information on several problems including fodder and drinking water scarcity during tour of drought hit villages in the district. He directed the officials to give more priority for water harvesting schemes before the onset of the monsoon.
