Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Thursday declared that his first priority would be to “provide succour to the people suffering from severe drought across the State”. The government would take up relief measures on priority.
Addressing his maiden press conference at the Vidhana Soudha immediately after he was sworn-in the 21 Chief Minister of the State here, Mr. Shettar said that the government would see that the drought situation was handled effectively and responsibly. He said that the government would strive to remove regional imbalances. He said that he would continue the welfare measures and development activities launched by his predecessors B.S. Yeddyurappa and D.V. Sadananda Gowda with renewed vigour.
Expressing the wish to ensure “emotional unification” of Karnataka, he alluded to surveys that had adjudged Karnataka as the 79 most developed State and Bangalore as the 16 most developed city in the world, especially in transport, e-governance, implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, empowerment of panchayat raj and rural development.
Asked why no representation had been given to Raichur, Koppal, Bidar and Chitradurga districts in the Cabinet, which were reeling under drought, the Chief Minister said that the full complement of the Cabinet had been made and there were no vacancies. It is natural that some people were unhappy, but the party would console them. However, he said that Ministers, who would be appointed in-charge of those districts would look after the development activities there.
When a reporter brought to his notice the demand made by the Maharashtra government to the Union government for providing security to the linguistic minorities in Belgaum, Mr. Shettar said that the Government had given utmost security to all people, including minorities, in the State.
The Chief Minister said that the Marathi-speaking people living in the State were the happiest but some vested interests were creating trouble to vitiate the atmosphere.
Deputy Chief Ministers K.S. Eshwarappa and R. Ashok and Mr. Shettar’s Cabinet colleagues were present.
