Santosh Lad tells officials to ensure proper water supply during summer

Labour Minister and Dharwad district in-charge Santosh Lad has directed officials to take precautionary measures to prevent drinking water shortage during the summer and to ensure proper utilisation of government funds without any lapse.

Chairing the third quarterly Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) progress review meeting for 2025-26 in Dharwad on Monday, the Minister said that all departments concerned must remain alert during the summer season.

Regular water quality testing should be conducted in rural and urban water supply units. Officials will be held directly responsible if harmful contaminants are detected.

He said that officials should reside at their respective taluk headquarters and follow instructions strictly, failing which action will be taken.

He also stressed that the Agricultural University and Horticulture Department should develop and spread information about new crop varieties in a timely manner.

Referring to the mango flowering season, he said that farmers should be given guidance on crop management practices to protect yields.

He instructed HESCOM officials to remain agile and attentive, receive calls promptly and ensure linemen attend to complaints on time.

“Transformer replacements should be done quickly. You cannot take your own sweet time,” he quipped.

Mr. Lad expressed displeasure with DDPI S.S. Keladimath for delay in issuing a tender notification and directed that it be completed within the week or face consequences.

He also reviewed preparations for upcoming SSLC examinations and asked officials to take action against poorly performing aided schools.

Under health sector review, MLC F.H. Jakkappanavar suggested starting mobile clinics in each taluk and raised concerns about language barriers affecting doctor-patient communication.

Mr. Lad said that he will discuss the mobile clinic proposal with the Minister concerned in Bengaluru.

The Minister also suggested that the Women and Child Development Department consider relocating around 400 anganwadis currently operating from rented premises.

Verbal exchange

The meeting witnessed a brief heated verbal exchange between Mr. Lad and Mr. Jakkappanavar, after the latter said that he is being interrupted continuously by Mr. Lad while questioning Social Welfare officials about utilisation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes funds. It lasted a while and Mr. Jakkappanavar even threatened to leave the meeting at one point. But subsequently he cooled down after the Minister clarified that he is just “assisting and not intervening”.

MLAs N.H. Konaraddi and M.R. Patil, along with Deputy Commissioner Snehal R., reviewed the progress of various schemes.

The Minister assessed the performance of various other departments.

Superintendent of Police Gunjan Arya, Zilla Panchayat CEO Bhuvnesh Patil, MLC Pradeep Shettar and others were present.