Thousands of people from various villages across Yadgir district thronged Chandraki village, where Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy held his Grama Vaastavya (village stay) programme on Friday, and poured out their grievances ranging from health issues to devastating drought.
Restarting his village stay programme after 12 years, Mr. Kumaraswamy arrived at Chandraki, about 40 km from the district headquarters, on Friday morning in a KSRTC bus after an overnight train journey from Bengaluru.
Drinking water project
After a brief function which saw the Chief Minister announcing a slew of development works for Yadgir, including a drinking water project at a cost of ₹1,000 crore to cover the entire district and increasing the capacity of the local hospital from 100 beds to 300 beds, he started an interaction with people.
The Janata Darshan, which began by 12 noon and went on till around 7 p.m., saw over 4,000 applications handed over to the Chief Minister. The district administration had put up stalls where officials were guiding people about filling applications and taking the token before meeting the Chief Minister. While Mr. Kumaraswamy offered immediate relief in about 2,000 cases, he referred the rest to officials, according to the Chief Minister’s office.
Mannamma Ranganna was seen requesting help to come out of the huge financial crunch she was facing as she had spent more than ₹5 lakh for her husband’s treatment. Mr. Kumaraswamy assured her that he would discuss it with officers and do his best. Shankramma, in her late fifties, said old age pension which was sanctioned for her had been withheld for the reasons unknown to her.
Not all requests were personal. A group of farmers submitted an application demanding that the authorities take up cloud-seeding considering that the region was reeling under drought.
However, not all who turned up were hopeful of a positive outcome. “I urged the Chief Minister to allot me a house under any scheme. But I am not sure I will get a house as benefits under these schemes have gone to powerful people though they were meant for the poor,” said Venkatesh, a resident of Chandraki.
Mr. Kumaraswamy stayed at the government primary school at Chandraki.
His village stay will continue on Saturday at Herur (B) in Kalaburagi district.
Angry local MLA tries to walk out
The Grama Vaastavya programme began with some embarrassing scenes on the dais, with local MLA Naganagouda Kandkur expressing disappointment over not being allowed to sit next to the Chief Minister because of protocol restrictions.
The MLA, who was visibly upset, got up and started walking away from the stage when district in-charge Minister Rajashekar B. Patil started delivering his welcome speech. His grouse was that the Mr. Patil was allowed to sit next to the Chief Minister. His son Sharanagouda Kandkur too was upset and was seen asking his father to walk out in protest.
However, ruling coalition leaders, including Minister Priyank Kharge, walked up to him and stopped him from getting down from the stage.
