Last year’s I-Day welfare projects still in limbo

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru

 Last year on Independence Day, the state government had launched 13 special programmes to benefit the working class, at an estimated budget of around Rs 1,000 crore.

They included Amrith gram panchayat, Amrith rural housing scheme, Amrith farmer producer organisations, Amrith Nirmala Nagara, Amrith Anganwadi centres, Amrith self-help micro[1]enterprises, Amrith community development programme, Amrith health infrastructure upgrade programme, Amrith skill training programme, Amrith startup programme, and Amrith sports adoption programme.

However, these projects have failed to reach most beneficiaries. The Amrith Anganwadi centre programme was supposed to provide Rs 1 lakh to each anganwadis in the state for their infrastructural development under the scheme.

According to the data submitted by the state government to the high court, out of 65,911 Anganwadi centres in the state, 14,948 lack electricity connection, 18,974 do not have fans, and 13,690 require toilets.

District convener of All India United Trade Union Centre V.G. De[1]sai said, “The Anganwadi workers have been protesting for better in[1]frastructure and pay hike for a long time. Still, the budget allotted to the scheme related to Anganwadi is relatively very less. People work in unhygienic conditions at these centres with a minimum wage of Rs 10,000.

“Another important scheme, the Amrith rural housing scheme, was launched to help rural homeless people. However, The Karnataka Housing Department website doesn’t have the name or the data for the number of applications or the beneficiaries, and the scheme’s status remains a secret.

 Similar is the case of the Amrith Health Infrastructure upgradation program, which was launched to upgrade primary health centres in the state.

According to a Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) survey, 67 out of the 100 PHCs in[1]spected failed to provide residential accommodation for doctors and paramedical staff. At the same time, several District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs) noted a lack of cleanliness as well.

 It has been found that 76 PHCs had no emergency ambulance service available while only 45 had the facility for psychiatric treatment. The report stated that of the total 100, as many as 26 PHCs had no labour room.

“The scheme promised Rs 20 lakh to 750 PHCs under the CM[1]AMRUT scheme, where basic elec[1]trical and infrastructure are to be upgraded. They said that it would be completed by the end of 2021. However, not much has changed. The situation remains the same. There is a lack of workforce, the infrastructure is still not improv[1]ing, and there is no upgrade in emergency services,” said a doctor from a PHC in Kengeri.