Justifying the increased allocations to Hyderabad Karnataka region in the recently presented State budget, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that special attention was necessary to lift the backward communities and regions and bring them to the mainstream.
Addressing a public meeting after inaugurating the Hemareddy Mallamma Study Chair at Gulbarga University here on Sunday, he said “Before Congress assumed power in the State in 2013, State government had allocated only Rs. 350 crore in five years to the Hyderabad Karnataka Development Board. After Article 371(J) of the Constitution came into force, we have allocated Rs. 3,000 crore in the last three years and another Rs. 1,500 crore for next year, making the total allocations to Hyderabad Karnataka Regional Development Board Rs. 4,500 crore,” he said.
He asked Sharan Prakash Patil and Basavaraj Rayaraddy, the two Ministers from Hyderabad Karnataka region present on the stage, to make use of the funds for the development of the region by ensuring quality works.
Holding the caste system responsible for socio-economic backwardness of majority of the population in society, including women, the Chief Minister stressed the need for creating educational and job opportunities to deprived communities to create a more equitable society.
“It is because of the caste system that a majority of our population continues to remain deprived of opportunities. Unless we pay special attention to lift these deprived sections, creating an equal society that social reformers like Basavanna and Ambedkar dreamt of would never be possible,” he said. He added that announcing a new University at Raichur was part of his government’s commitment to develop educational opportunities to the students of Hyderabad Karnataka region.
Commending Congress Leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge for his relentless efforts in amending the Constitution to include Article 371(J) and providing a special status to Hyderabad Karnataka region, the Chief Minister said that the region got 19,000 medical and engineering seats and 22,000 jobs in the last three years thanks to the special status.
Gold medal
Commending Mr. Siddaramaiah for presenting “one of the best budgets in the State’s history,” Basavaraj Rayaraddy, Minister for Higher Education, honoured him with a gold medal and a silver idol of a cow with her calf. Later, the Chief Minister, recalling the controversy surrounding his Hublot diamond-studded watch, announced that he would leave the two presentations in Gulbarga University.
“It is very difficult to accept gift these days. My friend had given me a watch and I wore it for some months. Some people made it a controversy and questioned my socialist approach. They politicised the issue,” he said.
