Towns and Cities

KMC Aadhaar camps put off indefinitely

Saturday, 30 November 2013 11:21 administrator

The Times of India 30.11.2013

KMC Aadhaar camps put off indefinitely

KOLKATA: If you have not registered for Aadhaar yet, you might end up paying the entire amount for each gas cylinder after January 31. While the petroleum ministry has set that date for enrollment of LPG subscribers across India, the much-awaited Aadhaar registration camps for cooking gas subscribers in Kolkata have been put on hold.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), which was chosen as the nodal agency for organizing special Aadhaar camps, on Friday received a Union home ministry note asking it to put the camps on hold till further order. The KMC was supposed to conduct the camps at 81 venues across the city, the spaces for which were supposed to have been arranged by LPG distributors.

KMC joint municipal commissioner Sristidhar Santra told reporters on Friday about the camps being put on hold. However, the Union home ministry has approved of holding special camps for LPG subscribers in Cooch Behar. "These camps will be held in Cooch Behar from December 14 to January 21. We may need to organize the camps in Kolkata based on the result of that," a KMC official said on Friday.

Holding the camps was never an easy task for the KMC as the civic officials engaged in the task failed to even gather data on the LPG subscribers who have already enrolled for Aadhaar. Sources said that though the number of cooking gas subscribers in Kolkata has crossed 13 lakh, not more than 50% have been covered in the first phase of Aadhaar registration.

"But we wanted to bring every subscriber under the mandatory subsidy form. That was an uphill task for want of infrastructure," said a KMC official.

Neither were the LPG distributors prepared for the big event. That was the reason why the KMC first postponed the camps from November 21 to December 2. Now, it has been postponed indefinitely.

TOI had reported on November 5 about the home ministry's decision to defer enrollment camps at LPG centres since chief minister Mamata Banerjee had called for a rethink on the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for LPG scheme. On November 1, Mamata had demanded that the petroleum ministry's decision to go ahead with the scheme be revoked since the Supreme Court has ruled that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for accessing public services and subsidies.

But the petroleum ministry, as it appears, is determined to push the scheme, leaving lakhs of LPG subscribers in the lurch, since there has been no confirmation from the ministry yet whether it would extend its January 31 deadline, said a senior KMC official working for Aadhaar scheme in Kolkata.

Ernakulam tops in development

Tuesday, 26 November 2013 10:47 administrator

Deccan Chronicle 26.11.2013

Ernakulam tops in development

Picture for representational purpose only.

Thiurvananthapuram: Ernakulam, Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram districts occupy the top three positions in the development matrix evolved in a study commissioned by the Planning Board. Idukki, Kasargod and Wayanad are at the bottom. However, Thiruvananthapuram district, in spite of its top score, fared poorly in health and education indicators.

The study, carried out by Elphin Tome Joe of CDS, used 25 indicators to generate the matrix and analyse inter-district socio-economic variations in the state. The indicators include health (infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate), educational status (dropout ratios, number of art, science and professional colleges), social factors (suicide rates, road accidents) and economic considerations (per capita income, investment in SSE/MSME sectors, mobile and telephone penetration and tourism arrivals). These indicators were categorised into three separate ‘spaces:’ basic space, social space and economic space.

The basic space refers to health indicators like infant and maternal mortality rates and infection rate and still birth ratio and availability of doctors. The social space refers to education and social indicators like dropout rates, number of professional colleges, suicide rate and road accidents. The economic space refers to per capita income, investments and tourism arrivals.

Thiruvananthapuram performed below average in the basic and social spaces. “The capital performs poorly for the first three indicators of the basic space, namely infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate and still birth ratio; a reflection perhaps of the level of inequality in access to medical care for the mother and child,” the study states.

The dropout ratio for LPS in Thiruvananthapuram is high and this pattern is seen in UPS also. However, it is significantly reduced in HPS, indicating that those students who stay within the system beyond UPS continue until they finish their schooling years.

Surprisingly, the SSLC pass percentage for Thiruvananthapuram is one of the worst. “This is shocking considering that Thiruvananthapuram is the capital city and access to quality education would not be generally seen as a problem,” the study notes.

BBMP to build nine Kempegowda towers

Tuesday, 26 November 2013 06:31 administrator

The New Indian Express 26.11.2013

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) plans to construct nine towers on the outskirts of the city.

These towers will be the replicas of historical structures built nearly five centuries ago by Kempegowda who is regarded as the founder of Bangalore.

The civic body plans to build the towers at prominent landmarks, including the Bangalore International Airport near Devanahalli.

Kempegowda had built four towers --- located near Mekhri Circle Underpass, Kempambudhi Lake in Hanumanthanagar, Lalbagh and Ulsoor Lake --- to mark the city’s limits during his reign. These towers are now in the heart of the city showing Bangalore’s frenetic growth over the years.

Bangalore is spread across 840 sq km after the BBMP’s formation in 2007.

Mayor B S Sathyanarayana said the nine towers will be built and maintained by private sponsors.

“This will not be a burden on the BBMP. We will allow the sponsors to put their nameboards in one corner. For those coming from other places, the towers will act as feel good factor. As Bangalore was built by Kempegowda, we chose to build his towers at the city’s new entry points,” he said.

The Mayor explained councillors and officials would inspect the proposed locations. He revealed that the BBMP had written to prospective sponsors, including major builders and added that some of whom had already responded positively.

The sponsors would be allowed to develop parks near the towers, he stated.

Not surprisingly, the proposal has attracted criticism about misplaced priorities from councillors of the Congress party.

“It is hilarious that the ruling party in the council is planning to construct such towers as welcome arches for outsiders. They should note once these outsiders enter the city, they will see the potholes on roads and know the reality. It is the BBMP’s duty to ensure pothole-free roads than decorate the entrances of the city,” a senior Congress councillor said.

However, the councillor, who wished to stay anonymous, pointed out the party was not opposed to commemorating Kempegowda’s work.

“In fact, such decorative entrance towers, which will connect to bad roads, will be an insult to Kempegowda,” he remarked.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 26 November 2013 06:40

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