After the Siddaramaiah-led State government issued a notification to cancel the Management Board of Kalyana Karnataka Human Resources, Agricultural and Cultural Association (KKHRACA) last month, the people of Kalyana Karnataka region have raised doubts on the future of KKHRACA.
KKHRACA was constituted two years ago in January 2021 by the then BJP government under the chairmanship of former Rajya Sabha member Basavaraj Patil Sedam with an objective of organising workshops, teachers’ training, health awareness camps, educate farmers and to promote cultural heritage in the region by reaching people at the grassroot level.
In total, the association launched 44 programmes in different sectors including Human Resource, Agricultural, Education, and Health-Art-Literature, and roped in 14 non-government organisations who have appointed 360 members, including 48 district coordinators and 312 taluk coordinators, for effective implementation of the programmes.
Though there was widespread dissatisfaction and opposition by representatives presuming that the grants allocated to the association was received from the KKRDB budgetary allocation. In fact, the then government allocated separate grant of ₹300 crore for the association, but it was released through KKRDB as the association was constituted under Societies Registration Act and it does not have a separate head of account.
An official requesting anonymity stated that the huge fund of ₹5,000 crore allocated for KKRDB annually was to be spent on constructing office buildings, schools, hospitals, and roads. But the funds sanctioned for KKHRACA was to promote cultural heritage and skill development programmes, organising health awareness camps in rural areas, conducting teacher’s training programmes to fill learning gaps among students, and extending financial support for entrepreneurs.
“People are under the misconception that the KKHRACA had received funds of ₹1,000 crore in two years. The government had released only ₹300 crore to the association since its inception, which was released in six instalments. The KKHRACA received a sum of ₹100 crore each in first two installments and ₹25 crore each in four installments.”
Thousands of beneficiaries in remote areas in Kalyana Karnataka region will be deprived of programmes launched by the association, if the government is planning to abolish KKHRACA, the official said.
