Latest news with #DakshinaKannadaZillaPanchayat
Hans India
27-06-2025
- Health
- Hans India
Stronger action against malnutrition, child marriage proposed in Dakshina Kannada
Expressing concern over sluggish progress in nutritional and child welfare programmes, Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat CEO Dr K Anand has directed officials to urgently strengthen initiatives under the Women and Child Development Department. Chairing a district-level coordination meeting on Thursday, Dr Anand noted that the district lags behind others in implementing the Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) and called for immediate improvement in service delivery. He asked Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs) to ensure that malnourished children—20 identified as severely undernourished—are admitted without delay to Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres (NRCs), with due care to hygiene and nutrition. 'Our goal should be to make Dakshina Kannada a malnutrition-free district,' he asserted. Dr Anand also stressed the need to ensure pre-primary education for children aged 3 to 5 and suggested using women's groups and gram sabhas to identify and enrol out-of-school children. On the infrastructure front, officials from the Karnataka State Habitat Centre were instructed to expedite Anganwadi building repairs. CDPOs were told to monitor and regularly inspect ongoing works. Two cases of child marriage were reported in the district in the latter half of 2024. Dr Anand urged gram panchayats to hold vigilance meetings to address child marriage and teenage pregnancies, directing that any suspected case be reported to Childline (1098). He also called for awareness drives across community platforms. Highlighting the 13 dowry-related harassment cases recorded in the same period, Dr Anand asked for legal literacy campaigns in mothers' groups, Stree Shakti meetings, and Child Protection Committee sessions. He also recommended urgent repair of the District Bal Bhavan building.
New Indian Express
22-06-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Tulu vs Kannada: Language row erupts in Dakshina Kannada
MANGALURU: A fresh controversy has erupted in Dakshina Kannada over the use of Tulu versus Kannada in local governance, placing the district administration in a delicate position. The trigger was a petition filed by Muralidhar, convener of the Yashashwi Nagarika Seva Sangha, Karkala, urging the authorities to ensure Kannada -- and not Tulu -- is given primacy during monthly gram panchayat meetings. In response, the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat forwarded the request to the executive officers of all taluk panchayats, advising them to take 'necessary action as per the rules'. Though the Karnataka Official Language Act, 1963, mandates the use of Kannada for all government communication, Tulu remains the dominant spoken language. This linguistic duality has placed officials in a bind -- enforcing the rule may alienate local communities, yet ignoring it risks violating statutory norms. Notably, the ZP avoided pushing for stringent enforcement. Unlike typical protocol, it did not seek an action-taken report from taluk officials -- a move interpreted as a cautious attempt to avoid inflaming sentiments. 'No guidelines on regional languages' However, the issue snowballed into a political flashpoint after BJP seized upon the ZP's internal note, issued on April 22, 2025. Former chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda and Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Kota Srinivas Poojary took aim at the Congress government, accusing it of attempting to marginalise Tulu. In a post on 'X', Gowda questioned, 'Can Urdu be used in government files?' -- a remark that drew criticism for communal overtones. A senior government official, requesting anonymity, clarified that while Kannada is compulsory for official use, no explicit guidelines exist on the status of regional languages in meetings. 'Each month, departments must report how many staff members use Kannada in administration.
Hans India
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Tulu can be used in panchayat meetings, no legal bar
A controversy has erupted in coastal Karnataka after a letter from the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to Taluk Panchayat officials sparked confusion over the use of the Tulu language in gram panchayat meetings. Responding to the development, Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy president Tarananth Gatti Kapikad clarified that there is no legal restriction on elected representatives using Tulu during discussions in gram panchayat general body meetings. He urged the CEO to withdraw the advisory to avoid further confusion. The issue arose after Muralidhar, director of Yashaswi Nagarika Seva Samsthe in Karkala, submitted a representation to the ZP CEO requesting that Kannada be prioritised in panchayat meetings and Tulu use be avoided by officials and members. Acting on the petition, the ZP CEO reportedly wrote to Taluk Panchayat Executive Officers to take action as per rules. However, it is noteworthy that the CEO's letter does not explicitly ban the use of Tulu, nor does it impose any language restriction.
Hans India
06-06-2025
- General
- Hans India
Drive for ending plastic pollution
In a spirited observance of World Environment Day 2025, the New Mangalore Port Authority launched a green initiative by planting saplings across its premises, reaffirming its commitment to sustainability. The day culminated in a ceremonial event at the NMPA Auditorium, where Chairman Dr. Venkata Ramana Akkaraju, Chief Guest Dr. Anandh K., CEO of Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat, and Guest of Honour S. Shanthi, Deputy Chairperson, rallied stakeholders around the global theme 'Ending Plastic Pollution,' calling for collective action to protect our ecosystems.
The Hindu
30-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Model zero-cost MRFs in Dakshina Kannada process dry waste generated by 223 gram panchayats
Having become the lone district in Karnataka to have four material recovery facilities (MRFs) to process dry waste generated by all the 223 gram panchayats in Dakshina Kannada, the coastal district is moving towards having a scientific way of disposing of sanitary pads and diapers. Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer K. Anandh said sanitary pads and diapers, collected from houses during the house-to-house collection of dry waste, remains unprocessed and they ultimately land up in the landfill sites. To prevent this, the Zilla Panchayat is working with gram panchayats with a mechanism to send the sanitary pads and diapers to the nearest deep incineration facility where it will be burnt. 'We are convincing the panchayats to make use of their funds to cover the cost of transporting and processing of sanitary pads and diapers. We hope to have a system in place in a month's time,' said Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer K. Anandh. Genesis of the idea As part of the Swachh Bharath Mission, the Central government mooted setting up of material recovery facility (MRF) with the capacity of handling 10 tonnes of waste per day (TPD), in a few places in the country, including in Dakshina Kannada. The first MRF with an installed capacity of 10 TPD was set up at Thenka Yedapadavu in Mangaluru taluk. Following the successful operation of this unit, three more MRFs with each having 7 TPD installed capacity were set up in Narikombu in Bantwal taluk, Ujire in Belthangady taluk, and Kedambady in Puttur taluk. Each of these three MRFs came on 7,150 square foot of area. How they work Each of the three MRFs having 7 TPD capacity cost ₹1.95 crore with the major portion of about ₹1.5 crore going for civil works and the remaining towards the machinery. Funds were raised from different grants to taluk panchayats and the ZP and from CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiatives, including ₹46.65 lakh from Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project for the Ujire MRF, and ₹25 lakh from the District Mineral Fund. The MCF provided a truck to the Narikombu MRF. The Tenka Yedapadavu facility is set up on a 10,000 squarefoot area at a cost of ₹4 crore. This facility processes dry waste from 51 gram panchayats (GPs) of Mangaluru, Moodbidri, Mulki and Bantwal taluks. Started in April 2023, this facility has so far received a total of 15.38 lakh kilograms of dry waste. As much as 6.15 lakh kg of inert materials, namely fabrics, rubber and multi layer plastic materials, were sent for co-processing at cement units namely ACC Geocycle, Dalmia, Ultratech, Vasavadatta and JK. A total of 9.23 lakh kg of dry waste namely glass bottle, paper cups, colour paper, e-waste, PET bottles, food packing material, general plastics and metals, were sent for end destination recycling to different units across the state. A total of 20 women and eight men work in this unit. The Kedambady MRF is processing dry waste from 22 gram panchayats (GPs) of Puttur, 21 GPs of from Kadaba, and 25 GPs from Sullia taluks. Started in May, 2024, this MRF so far received 4.44 lakh kg of dry waste. Of this, 1.77 lakh kg has gone for co-processing, while 2.66 lakh kg of waste has gone for end destination recycling. As many as 19 women and 10 men work in this MRF. The Ujire MRF, which was built at a cost of ₹2.41 crore, processes dry waste from 48 GPs of Belthangady taluk. Set up in August 2024, this MRF has so far received 2.86 lakh kg of dry waste. Of this, 1.3 lakh kg has gone for co-processing, while 1.2 lakh kg has gone for end destination re-cycling. A total of 16 women and six men work in this unit. The Narikombu MRF, which was built at a cost of ₹2.7 crore, processes dry waste from 39 GPs from Bantwal taluk and 17 from Ullal taluk. Set up in December 2024, this MRF has so far received a total of 81,900 kg of dry waste. Of this, 32,760 kg has gone for co-processing, while 49,140 kg has gone for end destination re-cycling. A total of 18 women and six men work in this unit. Zero cost model Dr. Anandh said these MRFs work on zero-cost model. These facilities are self sustaining ones. Neither the panchayat pays anything to the MRF operator, nor the operator pays anything to the panchayats. All the GPs collect dry waste from door-to-door and store it in a designated place. Trucks from the MRF visit the collection facility on designated days and transport the waste to the MRF, where it will be segregated depending on the size. Recyclable waste will be bailed through a bailing machine and sent to the recycler concerned, while non-recyclable waste is sent to cement factories as fuel. 'Our model is now being adopted in setting up MRFs in other districts,' Dr. Anand said. The start-up Mangala Resource Management Pvt. Ltd. operates Thenka Yedapadavu, Kedambady and Narikombu MRFs. It also handles MRF in Nitte in Udupi district. Vaishnawi Industries Ltd. manages the Ujire facility. New proposal As large quantity of dry waste is coming from Ullal and surrounding areas, a new MRF with 10 TPD capacity is proposed to come up in Balepuni village, Dr. Anandh said.
