‘We Are Team Karnataka’: D.K. Shivakumar Tells Government Employees to Serve People, Warns Against Corruption and Fake Bills
Bengaluru, August 11: “My Cabinet colleagues, officials and I are all government employees. We are Team Karnataka. Let us all work together. Our goal is to respond to people’s problems and work for their welfare,” D.K. Shivakumar told state government employees on Tuesday, while stressing accountability, transparency and zero tolerance towards corruption.
Addressing an interaction with government employees at the Banquet Hall of Vidhana Soudha, Shivakumar said only about 5.50 lakh government employees, including those in government, had received the opportunity to serve the people of Karnataka and urged them to make proper use of that opportunity.
He said successive chief ministers, from the time of Kengal Hanumanthaiah, had administered the state according to their own experience and principles. Referring to the construction of Vidhana Soudha, he said Kengal Hanumanthaiah had used prison inmates in its construction and recalled that some prisoners had thrown footwear at him. He also referred to the history of Sir M. Visvesvaraya working for ₹1.
“I will not criticise the work of those before me. Criticism dies, but our work remains,” Shivakumar said.
Citing B.R. Ambedkar’s observation that those who forget history cannot create history, Shivakumar told officials that they possessed education and experience. He said he had not studied extensively but had gained experience as a Zilla Panchayat member, MLA, minister and Deputy Chief Minister.
He described government employees as hardworking people who understand the pulse of the administration and act as a bridge between the government and citizens. What mattered, he said, was the legacy those in office left behind.
“We have a responsibility to bring change in people’s lives. I do not want to read or write history; I want to create history. Karnataka has reached this stage because of the service of government employees,” he said.
Shivakumar said Karnataka’s progress was the result of a tradition of administration stretching back to the era of the Mysore Maharajas, along with the knowledge of students and the state’s talented human resources. He recalled that the Maharajas had facilitated the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru.
He also recalled former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee saying that global leaders once came first to Delhi before visiting other Indian cities, whereas they were increasingly coming to Bengaluru first. Shivakumar said he would not claim this as the achievement of any one government.
Referring to a meeting with the Polish Prime Minister, Shivakumar said he was told that two out of three people in Silicon Valley were Indians and that investment in Bengaluru offered substantial savings.
He said misuse of the state government’s guarantee schemes was being examined. The benefits, he said, should go to people of Karnataka and need not be extended to others.
Urging officials to work according to their conscience, Shivakumar said the government would examine how officers and legislators were functioning at the taluk level. “We work for the people. Even if you cannot satisfy everyone else, work in a manner that satisfies your conscience,” he said.
“Power is a symbol of responsibility. It is not a throne, but an opportunity,” he said, adding that public service should remain the central objective of the government and its employees.
Shivakumar congratulated members of the government employees’ association who had decided to give up benefits under the guarantee schemes. He questioned the purpose of assigning responsibility to officials if they remained at headquarters without working in the field.
He said officers should reside at their respective taluk headquarters and noted that the interaction was being conducted at 750 locations across the state. He said clean intentions and transparent functioning could help resolve public problems.
Under the Praja Seve initiative, Shivakumar said district ministers and legislators should visit taluks once every two weeks, on the first and third Saturdays of each month, to address public issues. The exercise should subsequently be taken to the panchayat level, while legislators should also work at the hobli level.
He asked officials to help citizens within the legal framework and regularly visit areas under their jurisdiction instead of remaining only at headquarters, saying field visits were necessary to understand ground realities.
Shivakumar said 25 lakh e-Khata records had been provided in Bengaluru and property records were being provided free of cost to people in rural areas. He described the delivery of property documents to people’s doorsteps without bribes as the government’s “sixth guarantee” and directed officials to expand the initiative across Karnataka within the next six to seven months.
Calling on officials to follow a “sharing and caring” approach, Shivakumar said the government was providing housing support to the poor and security for property acquired through their hard-earned money. Local problems should be resolved locally through Praja Seve instead of being shifted elsewhere, he said.
He described the Bharat Jodo Yuva Sangha as a revolutionary initiative aimed at empowering young people, creating awareness about service to the country and providing a platform for their talent.
Issuing a warning on corruption, Shivakumar said there would be no compromise and that every step taken by officials would be scrutinised. Information on each beneficiary should be maintained and officials should monitor how benefits were being used.
“There are instances of double billing. I will come down heavily on those involved. There is no room for fake bills,” he said. He added that property records were being digitised to prevent tampering with documents.
Shivakumar directed taluk-level officers to submit details of their daily programmes to senior officials. He said cooperative and revenue officials exercised quasi-judicial powers and must ensure that their forums did not result in injustice. Officials should work without yielding to pressure, he added.
He said he would visit every taluk after the Assembly session and directed officials to ensure that all schools, including private schools, participate in Independence Day programmes.
The programme was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Parameshwar through video conference, ministers Priyank Kharge, Laxman Savadi, Santosh Lad, Vijayanand Kashappanavar and Ajay Singh, Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh, Additional Chief Secretary Tushar Giri Nath and Additional Chief Secretary (Development) Uma Mahadevan.
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