Udupi (The Hindu): Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Services and Sports, said on Tuesday that Janaspandana mass contact programmes would be held at hobli-level in Udupi district from next month.

He was here to inaugurate a district-level Janaspandana programme organised by the district administration.

Mr. Madhwaraj said that there were nine hoblis in Udupi district. A mass contact programme would be held once in a month in these hoblis in turns. The intention of holding Janaspandana mass contact programmes was to take the administration and government facilities to the doorsteps of the people. Henceforth the district administration would he holding Janaspandana programmes a day before the tri-monthly Karnataka Development Programme meeting. It was only when the elected representatives learn about the problems of the people in the Janaspandana programmes that they would be able to discuss the issues in a proper manner in the KDP meetings.

Besides discussing issues affecting the people, certificates related to welfare schemes such as Bhagyalakshmi bonds, Sandhya Suraksha, widow pension and amount from Chief Minister’s Relief Fund would be distributed, he said.

Mr. Madhwaraj said that officers should be more responsive to the problems of the people. They should not make people wait endlessly for the processing of their applications or for below the poverty line (BPL) cards. Nearly 12,000 BPL cards had been distributed in Udupi Assembly Constituency in the last three years. In order to provide pensions as soon as possible to the beneficiaries, pension adalats were being held regularly in the district. He had inaugurated a Bapuji Seva Kendra at Chanthar in Udupi taluk on Tuesday.

This kendra provided about 100 utility services to the people in rural areas. Such Kendras would also be opened in Kundapur and Karkala taluks, Mr. Madhwaraj said. Meenakshi Bannanje, president, Udupi City Municipal Council; Sandhya Tilakraj, vice- president; Priyanka Mary Francis, in-charge Deputy Commissioner’ K. Annamalai, Superintendent of Police; and S. Aswathi, Assistant Commissioner, were present, among others.