No non-official members in relief panel

BANGALORE: The Central Relief Committee (CRC), constituted in accordance with the Karnataka Prohibition of Beggary Act (KPBA), 1975, has violated the law by not appointing non-official members to the panel. The Committee which works under Social Welfare Department, aims to eradicate beggary and provide better standard of living for beggars.According to Section 4 of the KPBA, CRC should comprise 4 official members and 4 non-official members (non government officials), to ensure Destitute Relief Centre (Nirashrithara Parihara Kendra) functions efficiently across the state. But so far, the state government has not appointed any non-official member.Meanwhile, the civil society groups which are fighting for the rights of beggars claim that the appointment of non-members would bring in transparency and not result in mismanagement of funds. Referring to the recent Beggars Colony issue, Santhosh P Nargund of Rashtrottan Sankalp, who had filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Karnataka High Court said, “If non-members were appointed, there would be transparency in the administration. We wonder why the government has not appointed any non-official member so far.”K A Ramalingappa, chairman, CRC, said that names of members had been suggested to the government. “Work has been done from our end. We have suggested the names and they will be appointed in a couple of weeks,” he added.