Karnataka   

Case for headquarters status to Sirsi resurfaces

Karwar: The demand for making Sirsi the district headquarters of Uttara Kannada district has gained momentum after Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, Sirsi MLA and Minister, was made the district in-charge Minister.

After he was inducted into the Ministry, Mr. Kageri began conducting most of the development and review meetings in Sirsi. District officers, based in Karwar, have to travel about 130 km to attend such meetings, causing unnecessary burden on the exchequer, says INTUC leader Santosh Naik.

The demand for shifting the district headquarters to Sirsi from Karwar is not new. When Ramakrishna Hegde was the Finance Minister in the Veerendra Patil government, some district offices were shifted from Karwar to Sirsi.

Hegde hailed from Sirsi. He felt that it was right to make it the district headquarters as it was centrally located.

When the people in the coastal area realised the game plan, an agitation was staged under the leadership of B.P. Kadam, then MLA for Karwar.

After the Emergency when Hegde contested against Mr. Kadam from the Canara Lok Sabha constituency, it became an election issue and Hegde lost the election. But the issue (of shifting the headquarters) was kept alive.

The strategic and political importance of Karwar was the main reason for the British choosing it as the centre of administration. It also helped them to keep the Portuguese at bay.

Karwar, which has a large Konkani-speaking population, borders Goa.

Kannada could survive in Karwar city and in the surrounding villages only because government servants from other districts have settled here.

If the district headquarters is shifted, then the Kannadiga population is bound to reduce, strengthening the case of the border State on Karwar, according to Kannada activists.

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