State government urged to take concrete steps to develop backward regions of North Karnataka

Seeking liberal allocation of funds for addressing regional imbalance, Sri Siddarama Swami of Gadag Tontadarya Math says the CM should announce Kittur Karnataka development board in the Budget

Heads of some religious institutions have urged the State government to take concrete steps to develop backward regions of North Karnataka.

“The State government should form an exclusive development agency for Kittur Karnataka, earlier called Mumbai Karnataka, which is a backward area. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai should announce, in his budget, the formation of Kittur Karnataka development board on the lines of Kalyan Karnataka Regional Development Board,” Sri Siddarama Swami of Gadag Tontadarya Math said in Belagavi on Wednesday.

He demanded that the allocation of funds for addressing regional imbalance should be liberal. “Based on the recommendation of D.M. Nanjundappa committee report, the government set a target of ₹8,000 crore per year, when the State Budget was around ₹50,000 crore. Now, that the State Budget is approaching ₹3 lakh crore and funds for equitable development of backward regions should be increased proportionately,” he said.

“The State government’s Beyond Bangalore initiative is ineffective. It has stopped at Hubballi- Dharwad. It has not extended beyond the twin cities. The State government has completely neglected Belagavi and surrounding areas,” he said.

He said that the Suvarna Soudha building in Belagavi has not served its purpose of decentralised development. The State government has spent over ₹400 crore on its construction. It is being used only for two weeks in a year for the winter session of the Legislature. It should be properly utilised by offices that are relevant to the development of North Karnataka, the seer added.

Sri Siddarama Swami demanded that the Central and State governments take steps to ensure that Lingayat is given the status of religion. To a query, the seer said that he is not interested in contesting elections. Some seers may be interested and fight polls too. That is their personal decision, not of any organisation, he said.

Ashok Chandaragi, convenor of the action committee of Kannada organisations, said that the State government has started 23 district-level offices in the Suvarna Soudha that, however, are not in the interest of the people of the region. “The government should start State-level and regional level offices in the Suvarna Soudha,” he said.