Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai launched the Nugu and Hadiyala lift Irrigation projects for rejuvenation of several lakes in Nanjangud taluk on Monday.
Speaking at a programme organised in this connection in Nanjangud, hei said his government had sanctioned ₹30 crore for the irrigation projects, which will help fill up the dried-up lakes of the region and rejuvenate the groundwater table to improve the lives of farmers.
Mr bommai not only promised to provide financial assistance for drinking water projects in other parts of Nanjangud, but also laid the foundation stone for a project that seeks to provide lodging and accommodation facilities to the pilgrims visiting Nanjangud. He said about 75 rooms providing accommodation to the devotees will come up under the project.
He also recalled that it was during his earlier tenure as Minister for Water Resources that an aqueduct was built to provide water for the project from the main canal. The MLAs representing the region earlier had abandoned the project, but Harshavardhan, the BJP MLA presently representing Nanjangud, pursued the project to its logical end, Mr Bommai claimed. His non-BJP predecessors were unable to launch the project because they were considering the people of the region only as their “vote banks”, Mr. Bommai said, taking a potshot at the Congress MLA representing Nanjangud earlier.
Ambedkar hostels
Mr. Bommai said his government was planning to build a total of 100 Ambedkar Students’ Hostels including 5 mega hostels across the State during the next one year.
The mega hostels, which are expected to accommodate a total of 1,000 students, will come up in Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubbali-Dharwad, Bengaluru and Kalaburagi.
When students from Nanjangud head to Mysuru to pursue their studies, the biggest problem they face is finding space in the hostel. This is true for students from other parts of the State also when they go to the nearest educational centre to pursue their studies.
Hence, identifying Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubbali-Dharwad, Bengaluru and Kalburgi as educational centres that attract students from rural areas, the State government has decided to build the mega hostels to provide accommodation to students from SC, ST and Other Backward Communities.
Mr. Bommai also said his government was responsible for increasing the quota for SCs and STs in the State. Though the demand for increasing the reservation was pending for 40 years, Mr. Bommai claimed that successive non-BJP governments had not taken any decision fearing that the law would come in between. But, laws are made in democracy for the benefit of people, particularly the deprived ones, Mr. Bommai said.
Minister for Water Resources Govind Karjol, former Minister and Chamarajanagar MP V. Srinivas Prasad, and BJP MLAs Harshavardhan and Niranjan Kumar too were present on the occasion.
