Karnataka State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Chairman L. Murthy on Tuesday directed district authorities to submit reports on whether tender works awarded by various engineering departments are being allotted to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) beneficiaries in accordance with prescribed reservation norms.

Presiding over a review meeting, Mr. Murthy said the commission expressed concern over maternal and infant mortality, observing that such deaths are often higher among families of daily wage labourers. He instructed officials to provide data on the number of SC and ST beneficiaries among maternal and child mortality cases reported in the district.

Reviewing the utilisation of the SCP/TSP funds, Mr. Murthy suggested that the Mysuru City Corporation focus on introducing new skill development programmes and providing equipment for students rather than restricting expenditure to items such as hostel beds and RO water plants.

He recommended organising interaction programmes involving senior officials, including the Deputy Commissioner, in schools and hostels run by the Social Welfare Department to motivate students to prepare for competitive examinations.

Mr. Murthy called for discussions at the government level on pooling funds from various departments to provide scholarships for PhD scholars at the University of Mysore.

Deputy Commissioner G. Lakshmikanth Reddy informed the meeting that civil works are being awarded through the e-procurement system and that provisions already exist for reserving works to contractors belonging to the SC and ST communities.

The commission members Divakar, Geetha Tamoshi and M. Kumbayya; commission secretary H.N. Shivaram; Police Commissioner Seema Latkar; MCC Commissioner Sheikh Tasveer Asif; Zilla Panchayat CEO S. Yukesh Kumar; Superintendent of Police Mallikarjun Baladandi, and senior officials from various departments attended the meeting.