The year-long celebrations of birth Centenary of former Chief Minister D. Devaraj Urs – known for bringing about land reforms – will begin from August 20. Urs served as Chief Minister for two terms from 1972–77 and 1978–80.
A decision regarding various components of the celebrations was taken at a high-level meeting presided by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah here on Monday.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Social Welfare Minister H. Anjaneya said that the Government would organise a programme in the former Chief Minister’s native village of Kallahalli on August 20 to launch the year-long celebrations. The main intention was to create public awareness about his achievements and vision including those related to social justice and land reforms, he said.
Listing various measures being planned by the Government for the centenary celebrations, he said the former Chief Minister would be conferred with the State’s highest award of Karnataka Ratna posthumously on the Kannada Rajyotsava day on November 1. Rules in this regard would be amended as presently there are no provisions to present the award posthumously, the minister said.
Similarly, his native village would be developed as a model village while a building would be constructed in his name in Hunsur town.
The Centre had already been requested to bring out a commemorative stamp on the former Chief Minister. The Balabrooie guest house in Bengaluru which was his official residence when he was the Chief Minister would be turned into a state-level museum which would not only showcase the articles related to him, but would also depict his achievements. An album containing rare pictures of Urs would also be brought out besides producing a documentary on his life and translating the book on his life as well as achievements into various languages, he said.
The other programmes include seminars on his achievements, building 100 post-metric hostels for girls, providing scholarships to students and giving full autonomy to the Devaraj Urs Research Institute.
