Describing the last six months of his government as a period when he ‘laid the foundation’ for building a bright future, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai vowed to transform Karnataka from a ‘developing State’ to a ‘comprehensively developed State’ in the next one year.
Speaking at a programme in Bengaluru to mark the completion of six months of his government, the Chief Minister remarked, “Every decision and step that we will be taking from now onwards will be full of confidence, energy, target-oriented and pro-welfare.”
Recalling that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to build a very strong State of Karnataka when he met him for the first time after becoming the Chief Minister, Mr. Bommai said, “We will work 24/7 to turn the Prime Minister’s wish into reality. The last six months were a confidence building phase about facing any challenge. The next one year would be the phase of development where we will move towards our aim of bringing about comprehensive development in which we will enable people to march forward in the path of development.”
He appealed to people of Karnataka to trust his government on the basis of its work. “We will work without affecting your trust. The manner in which our team has worked in the last six months should be the basis for your trust in us,” the Chief Minister said.
Introducing his ministerial colleagues as a ‘formidable team’ that is ready to brave challenges to take the State forward, Mr. Bommai explained that his government had faced a tough challenge of floods on the one hand and the Covid-19 pandemic on the other. “Though I was keen to help different sections of people through various new programmes, the resource crunch had put us in a dilemma,” he said.
He remarked that his was a government with ‘conscience, humanity and sensitivity’.
“This is evident in our actions that have sent a clear message that we will not let our people down in any situation,” he said, while referring to some of the welfare measures taken up by his government amidst pandemic-induced shortfall in revenue.
“All our decisions in the last six months have been guided by public interest and welfare. I want to make it clear that none of the decisions made by my government in the last six months have any personal interest,” he said.
Ridiculing other political parties for turning social justice into a political slogan, he said his government wanted to ensure social justice in its ‘real spirit’ so that people from the oppressed sections would also get to live with self-esteem. He said his government would bring about a comprehensive change in funding programmes related to welfare of SC/STs and OBCs in the next State budget.
He listed various programmes taken up by his government right from those announced in his first Cabinet meeting, including scholarships to farmers’ children.
