Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday, December 15, announced that a high-powered committee led by a renowned economic expert of Karnataka will be constituted to study regional imbalances again in terms of development.
A high-powered committee led by D.M. Nanjundappa, in its report in 2002, had identified 39 taluks as most backward, 40 as more backward, and 35 as backward. Of the most backward taluks, 26 were in North Karnataka while the Old Mysore region had accounted for 13.
Announcing the formation of a new high-powered committee, while replying to a debate on the issues related to North Karnataka in the Legislative Assembly on the last day of the winter session of the State legislature in Belagavi, the Chief Minister said the committee would be asked to submit its recommendations within six months.
Pointing out that measures have already been implemented to tackle regional imbalance as per the recommendations of the Nanjundappa committee, the Chief Minister said the ground-level situation, particularly in North Karnataka, had indicated that there were still regional imbalances.
Committee’s recommendations
As per the Nanjundappa committee’s recommendation, a total of ₹31,000 crore had been spent on backward taluks over eight years from 2007-08. Later, another committee formed by him had put the number of most backward taluks at 40 and funds had been provided for their development, he noted.
Observing that better development of some parts was partially due to the pro-active steps taken by the erstwhile kings of Mysore towards development in their region, the Chief Minister declared that his government would display full commitment in tackling the issue.
He promised to increase the grants for Kalyana Karnataka’s development from the present ₹3,000 crore to ₹5,000 crore from next year.
No separate state demand
He appealed to all the politicians to desist from raking up the demand for a separate North Karnataka State, by observing that it was not a solution to tackling the backwardness of this region. “Also, it would be a crime against those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the State’s unification,” he said.
At the same time, the Chief Minister launched a counter-attack at the Opposition BJP which accused the Congress of being responsible for regional imbalances as it ruled the State for the longest time.
“Who built the dams in north Karnataka?” he shot back at the BJP, indicating that the foundation for development was laid by the Congress. He sought to project the BJP government at the Centre in poor light by stating that the Mahadayi and Mekedatu projects were languishing as the Centre was yet to provide necessary clearances. He took exception to the Centre not releasing the announced funds for the Upper Bhadra project.
Referring to Article 371 J that has helped in providing reservation in jobs and education to those from the backward regions of Hyderabad Karnataka, he said the then Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani had opposed the proposal in this regard by the Congress government in Karnataka. However, later, the Congress government at the Centre took the proposal further. The Opposition BJP staged a walkout expressing dissatisfaction over the Chief Minister’s reply.
