Non-implementation of central schemes irks Karnataka's Minorities Welfare Minister

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 13 : Housing and Minorities Welfare Minister Zameer  Ahmed Khan on Thursday considered taking action against officials who did not implement the central government’s schemes for the development of minorities in the state for the fiscal year 2016-2017.

He pointed out that Rs 10 crore had been allocated annually by the Ministry of Education and Skill Development for loans to benefit students and young entrepreneurs in the state.

“During a meeting of the board of directors held on Thursday at the KMDC building in Bengaluru, Zameer Ahmed Khan, who presided over the meeting, expressed strong dissatisfaction with the performance of officials in loan recovery in several districts and questioned what they were doing. In the current year, the loan recovery must be 50 per cent. According to records, the total outstanding of the education, industry, and self-employment schemes was Rs 582 crore, but the loan recovery rate was 15 per cent in 2021 and 25 per cent in 2022. In the current fiscal year, the recovery rate must be 50 per cent,” said a press release by Zameer Ahmed Khan's office.

He was unhappy over the performance of the district-level officials of Kalaburgi, Belagavi, Bidar, Chikballapur, and Bengaluru Central District with the percentage as low as 1.36 per cent to 2.64 per cent.

“What are officials doing? For this, they should be given a salary? A meeting of district managers and loan recovery officials would be convened on July 25. Henceforth, the progress review meetings would be held every month in the future,” he noted.

“Regarding the issue of loan restructuring, the minister proposed the One-Time Settlement (OTS) scheme and suggested providing performance appreciation certificates to those who effectively carry out loan restructuring and start fresh loans. He also approved the authorisation to make arrangements for vehicle management to initiate a loan recovery campaign,” it further added. 

“On this occasion, he implemented loan and interest restructuring through online channels. The officials who were present during the meeting included the Director of the Department of Minority Welfare, Manoj Jain, the KMDC Managing Director, Mohammad Nazeer, and the directors,” it said.