Mangalore, 24 Feb 2014: Very soon all gram panchayats in Dakshina Kannada district may get laptops, if everything goes as per plan.
A discussion in this regard was held at the KDP meet at the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat on Sunday. Are laptops given to gram panchayats or panchayat development officers (PDO), the question led to heated debated at the KDP meet .
Zilla panchayat president K Koragappa Naik and standing committee chairperson Asha Thimmappa Gowda expressed concern over PDOs carrying official laptops to homes and to other gram panchayats when they are transferred. "Is not laptop an asset of the gram panchayat? PDOs should not be allowed to take laptops home and use it for their personal work at any cost. Hence, all laptops should be kept at the gram panchayat offices ony," Naik said.
The discussion on laptop went on and finally the issue was solved by resolving that laptops should be provided to all gram panchayats in the district. At present, 126 out of 203 gram panchayats have laptops. Hence, we have to think of providing laptops to all gram panchayats to solve the issue, Naik said.