Lokayukta holds meeting on poor facilities at hostels

Lokayukta Y Bhaskar Rao on Wednesday held a meeting with senior officials of the Social Welfare Department to address concerns regarding poor facilities provided at Scheduled Castes/Tribes hostels in several districts including Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Bidar and Gulbarga.

During the Lokayukta’s visit to these places, students, especially girls, had complained about low quality food, insufficient drinking water, crammed accommodation and badly maintained toilets. At some hostels in Bidar, there was only one bathroom for 80 girls, Lokayukta Deputy Commissioner Syed Riyaz said.

After getting an assurance from the officials that the complaints would be attended to, the Lokayukta will take stock of the situation after six months. Detailing instances of poor facilities in the hostels, a letter to the Social Welfare Department from the Lokayukta states that at a girls’ hostel in Bidar, 15 girls stay in one small room, while the boys’ hostel houses 10 students in one small room.


In yet another hostel in Gulbarga for girls, students complained that food adequate to one hostelite was told to be shared with four others. The Lokayukta has suggested that a maximum of six students be lodged in the existing rooms and there should be at least one bathroom and one toilet for every 10 students. Food supplied should be adequate and be checked by dietician, once in three months.

source:http://www.deccanherald.com/content/349773/lokayukta-holds-meeting-poor-facilities.html

Air Marshal Paramjit Singh Gill to visit Bidar today

Air Marshal Paramjit Singh Gill, Air Officer Commanding-in-chief, Training Command, will visit the Air Force Station, here on Tuesday.

Pushinder Gill, his wife, and president of the Air Force Wives Welfare Association (Regional), will accompany him. A former student of the National Defence Academy, Air Marshal Paramjit Singh Gill was commissioned in the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force in 1975. He is a Category A flying instructor with 4,000 hours of flying, including 1,000 hours of instructional flying. He has commanded a frontier fighter squadron too. He has earlier served as the Chief Instructor at the Bidar Air Base, Commandant of the College of Air Warfare, and Senior Staff Officer of the Central and Western Air Command.

Manish Khanna, Air Officer Commanding will receive the visitors, said a release.

source:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/air-marshal-paramjit-singh-gill-to-visit-bidar-today/article4994167.ece

Ksheera Bhagya launched in Gulbarga, Bidar

Students lining up to receive milk at the launch of Ksheera Bhagya in Bidar on Thursday.


The Ksheera Bhagya scheme, which would provide milk along with the midday meal scheme in government and aided schools and anganwadis, was launched in Gulbarga by zilla panchayat president Sharanappa Patil Telkur here on Thursday.

The scheme would benefit 3,81,627 children in 2,336 such schools, and 1.24 lakh children (between six months and three years of age) and 1,11,751 children (between three and six years of age) in the anganwadi centres in the district.

Hygiene

Speakers present told the agencies responsible for supplying milk powder to ensure cleanliness and hygiene.

Deputy Commissioner N.S. Prasanna Kumar highlighted the importance of boiling potable drinking water before mixing it with the milk powder. The glasses used by the children for drinking milk should also be thoroughly cleaned.

Mr. Telkur said that this scheme would help reduce malnutrition.

Of the children studying in schools in Gulbarga, 3,05,759 study in 2,065 government schools while 75,868 study in 271 aided schools. President of the Gulbarga and Bidar Milk Producers Federation Mallikarjun Biradar said that the federation would supply over 206.07 quintals of milk powder every week to the schools.

Dattatreya Patil Revoor, MLA, presided over the function and lauded the State for introducing the scheme, which he felt would “go a long way in helping malnourished children improve their health profile and reduce drop-out rates.” The MLA stated that the scheme would also help the government overcome the glut in milk production in Karnataka.

‘Make it successful’

Bidar Special Correspondent writes:

The government programme, which will distribute milk powder to children thrice a week, was launched in Bidar on Thursday.

It will benefit over 4.2 lakh children in over 1,800 anganwadis and 1,200 schools in the district. Every one of these children get 150 ml of milk once every two days.

Zilla panchayat president Santoshamma Pundalikappa inaugurated the scheme by distributing milk to children, and urged teachers to maintain standards of hygiene before giving it to children.

Deputy Commissioner P.C. Jaffer directed teachers and cooks to “work hard to make the scheme a success.” He urged teachers to make sure that there were no complaints regarding the scheme. The headmaster would be in charge of the scheme in each school, and oversee the entire distribution process, he said.

The milk union would supply 1 kg packets to the angandwadis and 20 kg packets to the primary and secondary schools.

source:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/ksheera-bhagya-launched-in-gulbarga-bidar/article4980554.ece