Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday promised to consider all major demands with regard to improvement of infrastructure in Dakshina Kannada district, including extending of the runway at Mangaluru International Airport, four-laning of Kenjar-Maravoor Road, and setting up a government medical college, in a phased manner.
In his introductory address, Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim listed out the requirements of the district and the city. He said the runway at the airport needed to be extended to enhance the handling capacity of the airport and bring it on a par with other international airports, for which acquisition of about 94 acres of land was necessary. Similarly, the road between Kenjar and Maravoor, connecting the airport with the city, is a two-lane and is unable to take the increasing traffic.
Similarly, the government should consider sanctioning a medical college attached to the Wenlock Hospital to cater to the local requirements, he said. Presiding over the event, J.R. Lobo, MLA, added one more demand to the list– sanctioning of a government evening engineering college to enable thousands of engineering diploma holders to pursue graduate engineering courses.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said, “As the Finance Minister in 2004 and then as the Chief Minister, I am the one who sanctioned 12 new government medical colleges. There were only four such colleges earlier.” Mr. Siddaramaiah said he would consider the Wenlock Hospital case next year as this year’s Budget has already been presented.
“Various other demands listed out would also be considered in a phased manner with Mr. Rai following them up,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
Minister for Sports and Youth Empowerment K. Abhayachandra Jain and senior officials were present.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said some people have already started to dream of having come to power in the 2018 Assembly elections and even have distributed portfolios. However, the Congress is destined to come to power once again for its pro-poor works, he said.
“Many have accused me of working only for the AHINDA communities. However, social welfare programmes like Anna Bhagya, Ksheera Bhagya, Vidyasiri, loan waiver, support price to milk, is for everyone ... It is a propaganda by the opponents of reservation and social justice and hence one need to be cautious against such forces,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
‘Will consider sanctioning
medical college for Wenlock Hospital next year’
