Panel recommends abolition of Malnad and Bayaluseeme boards, overhaul of KKRDB functioning

Panel recommends abolishing Malnad and Bayaluseeme boards, overhauling KKRDB, and releasing ₹29,009 crore for regional development.

The Karnataka Regional Imbalances Redressal Committee (2026), headed by economist M. Govinda Rao, has reviewed the functioning of regional development boards such as the Malnad Area Development Board, Bayaluseeme Development Board, Karavali Development Board, Karnataka Border Area Development Authority, and Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB), and found that they have not made the desired impact in redressing backwardness.

The panel said the Malnad Board and Bayaluseeme Board, working for more than three decades, have not made contributions to overcome infrastructure issues and recommended their abolition.

The panel recommended revamping the Regional and District Planning units in the Planning Department to work with the Zilla Panchayats in preparing the District Development Plans to redress the backlog in different social and physical infrastructure within the next five years.

The panel said that KKRDB, established in 2013 under Article 371 (J) of the Constitution to address regional imbalances, should be overhauled in view of operational failures and poor fund allocation.

It said that various apex-level committees under it are non-functional, and there was inordinate delay in the works’ implementation. “The ad hoc nature of planning and the Annual Action Plan submitted by KKRDB to the government has not specified targets to be achieved,” the report added.

The panel opposed the Board’s allocation of funds to the universities and said the Higher Education Department should ensure funds to universities. The panel also noted serious shortcomings in the allocation to projects made by the Board during the period from 2013-14 to 2024-25.