With the Assembly elections round the corner, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seems to be pulling out all the stops to woo caste groups.
The Cabinet on Monday granted a large tract of land on the outskirts of Bengaluru to various caste outfits for establishing educational and other institutions.
The meeting, presided over by Mr. Siddaramaiah, decided to allot 78 acres to 36 caste-based organisations. Plots in the range of one to three acres each will be granted on lease to the groups, including those of the dominant Veerashaiva and Vokkaliga communities, at Machohalli village in Dasanapura hobli of Bengaluru Urban district.
The lands have been approved for All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, Vokkaligara Sangha, Kurubara Sangha, Vishwakarma Sangha, Arya Idigara Sangha, Madiwala Sangha, Devadiga Sangha, Savitha Samaja, Banjara Sangha, Anglo Indian Association, Valmiki Sangha, Uppara Sangha, Tigalara Sangha, Gollara Yadava Sangha, Muslim Orphanage and Ganigara Sangha, among others.
Briefing presspersons on the Cabinet decisions, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T.B. Jayachandra said these caste-based organisations had submitted applications to the government seeking allotment of land to undertake social works in the field of education, healthcare and community welfare.
Lands have been granted to build schools, colleges, student hostels, hospitals and for other social service activities. Apart from this, the State government would build a hospital, fire station and police station on 19.2 acres in the locality.
The government had to consider their request for lands as they are meant for undertaking social welfare activities. The government has land bank of around 17,000 to 18,000 acres across the State. It is ready to grant lands for social service activities in the coming days, Mr. Jayachandra said.
Core road
The Cabinet also cleared 418.6 km road for developing a core road network in the State under the third phase of Karnataka State Highway Improvement Project (KSHIP-III).
In the first phase, the Public Works Department has decided to develop 418 km roads in three packages. Roads between Kollegal-Hanur (23.8 km), Chintamani-Andhra Pradesh border (39.8 km), and Bengaluru (NICE Road)-Magadi (51 km) will be developed at an estimated cost of ₹671 crore, Mr. Jayachandra said. Loans would be raised from the Asian Development Bank to execute the road project.
