Udupi: Civic workers reluctant to occupy new flats

The Hindu

• Some say they are used to living in their present premises

Udupi, 27 April 2011: Although a residential apartment comprising 12 flats for the civic workers of Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) was inaugurated with much fanfare on August 11, 2010 , they remain unoccupied even after eight months.

 

The residential apartment for civic workers which remains unoccupied in Udupi.

 

Each flat has a bedroom, a hall, a kitchen, a toilet, and bathroom. The three-storey complex, including ground floor, was built by the CMC at a cost of Rs. 80 lakh at the Beedinagudde area to provide better facilities to civic workers. The quality of construction of these flats is good with proper facilities, including two overhead tanks. Ceiling fans too have been installed in these flats.

 

Most of the civic workers, who have been allotted these flats, belong to the Scheduled Tribes. Some of them live in the individual tiled houses of the CMC. Some come from areas such as Manipal, Parkala, Puttur-Ambagilu, and Subrahmanya Nagar.

 

CMC president Kiran Kumar told The Hindu on Tuesday that CMC wanted to provide flats to civic workers who came from far-off places so that they could save time spent on travelling and at the same time have a better standard of living.

 

But the civic workers have their own reasons for not moving into the apartments. Those having individual tiled houses did not want to move into the flats as they would not have the veranda. Some used firewood for heating water and they were not comfortable with LPG connections. A few are used to the places where they stayed. “They are yet to come to terms with modern times,” Mr. Kumar said. Although the sanctioned strength of civic workers is 220 for Udupi CMC, it has 56 workers. Of these, 32 turned up for work regularly. The flats were allotted according to the seniority of the candidates.

 

CMC Commissioner Gokuldas Nayak said since senior civic workers did not want to move, the CMC had made the offer to young civic workers.

 

“Some of them are ready to move in. Another reason for delay is that electricity connection was provided only recently,” he said.