The Hyderabad Karnataka regional manifesto released by Congress ahead of Assembly elections appears to be a huge bunch of vague promises, as the majority of the promiseslack specificities. Categorised by sectors with respect to each of the six districts, the manifesto promises everything with a special focus on agriculture and industries.
The manifesto is full of vague and non-quantifying phrases such as “more borewells for irrigation”, “new irrigation projects”, “more drinking water projects”, “increase the number of PHCs”, “construction of footpaths and cycle tracks”, “identifying irrigation canals and see what improvement can be done for free flow of water”, “encouraging SMEs by purchasing locally manufactured products”, “development of sports grounds”, “opening centres to offer localised trainings in agriculture and allied services”, “establishing more old-age homes”, “deployment of more paediatricians in PHCs”, “offering skill-based technical training for improving agriculture produce”, “enhancing traffic infrastructure”, “setting-up new government high schools, PU colleges and residential schools”, “conserving water by constructing check dams and ponds,” “start nurseries and produce and supply seeds to farmers at very low prices”, “providing higher subsidy rates to install solar fencing”, “creating mobile courts for quick disposal of cases”, improvement of tourist centres” and so on. Since none of such promises, however, numerically quantifies the augmentation, there will always be room for claiming a promise as fulfilled even when it is negligibly augmented.
Though the manifesto has promised an agriculture processing unit in Kalaburagi to make use of the conducive environment that has resulted in operation of 500 dal mills, it is not clear whether it means another State-owned dal mill. The promise of a Manufacturing Industry Zone at Kalaburagi to provide special package and support to dal mills also does not say anything specific.
‘Cement zone’
The manifesto promises a cement industry in Kalaburagi to make use of the abundance of limestone in the region and support Sedam and Chittapur taluks as “cement zone” for development of the cement sector. However, it is not clear whether the promise means one more public sector cement factory in addition to the private factories already in operation in the area.
Besides, there are some other things that have something specific to promise such as establishment of an IT park and a dairy processing unit in Kalaburagi, a training centre for the burgeoning jeans stitching and manufacturing industry, a tamarind processing unit, a mega textile park in Ballari, a groundnut processing unit in Yadgir, a new 100-bed Maternal and Children’s Hospital in Bidar, building a parallel canal between 0 and 70 km on Tungabadra Left Bank to ensure enough water to tail-end farmers, renovation of Narayanpur Right Bank Canal to help provide better irrigation facilities to Raichur, Lingasugur and Devadurga taluks, setting up of a Sona Masoori Rice Research Centre at Raichur and marketing centres at Koppal, Gangavathi and Kushtagi and planning for an SEZ for zardozi work in Basavakalyan.
The eye-catching promise among the all is the increase of special grants to Hyderabad Karnataka Regional Development Board from ₹ 1,500 crore to ₹ 2,000 crore.
