Bengaluru, August 15: Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy who hoisted the tricolour as part of the 72nd Independence Day at the Manekshaw Parade Grounds here on Wednesday, wished the people of the state on the occasion of the Independence Day.

Quoting the lyrics of Rashtrakavi Kuvempu- “Bharata Bhoomi Nanna Thayi Nanna Poreva Tottilu, Jeevanavene Devigereve Bidute Gudia Kattalu”-, the Chief Minister said that “nonviolence is the most influential weapon that the world has ever seen. We are representing the heroic tradition which fought for independence through non-violence. India is the front runner in achieving the unity in diversity among other countries. I sincerely bow my head to all freedom fighters including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Lokmanya Tilak, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dr BR Ambedkar and others for their sacrifice for the independence”, he said.   

“Our government is committed to develop Karnataka without giving room for damaging the unity of the state. The budgets presented by the previous government and my government are complementary to the comprehensive development of the state. My government is ready to implement all the programmes mentioned in the budget”, he promised.

Independent India was built on the basis of the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi. Now, the country was celebrating the 150th Gandhi Jayanti. As a preamble to this celebration, the government has planned stage around 1000 theatre shows across the state under the title ‘Gandhi-150, a theatre journey’. In the same way, the country was in the threshold of celebrating the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s speech at all faith conference in Chicago. The state government was planning to celebrate this occasion also, he said.  

“I have close relationship with Belagavi. I have the credit of beginning the Assembly Session in Belagavi. I have laid the foundation stone for Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi. Most importantly, I have started my much ambitious programme ‘village stay’ from Belagavi district. The government is planning to shift some of the departments to my beloved district”, he said.

The CM said that the state government was committed to protect the interests of Kannadigas living in other states especially Goa, Kerala and Maharashtra and would have cordial relationship with those states.

One of the priorities of his government was to ensure permanent solutions to the farmers problems and creating job opportunities to the hands. It was the long pending demand from the farming community to waive off the loans. Now, his government has responded positively to that demand and the government has decided to waive off around 49,000 crore loans availed from cooperative banks and nationalized banks. No other states in the country have taken such a decision to waive off the farm loans. Already, the government has declared waiver off loans availed from cooperative sector and 20.38 lakh farmers would get the benefit. Shortly, another order would be issued to waive off the loans availed from nationalized banks, he said.

It was not fair to do politics in the name of farmers. Farm loan waiver was not the only solution to the farmers problems. It was an effort to instill confidence among them. The government was thinking about on how to make the agriculture a sustainable and profitable sector, he said.

He had participated in a paddy transplanting in Sitapura in Mandya district. Due to shortage of water, the paddy cultivation was affected in the district for the last three years. This time, because of the sufficient rain, the farmers were happy and he had participated in their happiness. He has decided to conduct such programme once in a month in all districts to educate the farmers on modern agriculture pattern and instill confidence among them, he said.

Thanks to the rain God that all reservoirs were full this time. This year, the state could get more power from hydel power generation units. The 370 MW capacity gas-based power unit at Yelahanka would commission its service this year. In order to strengthen the power transmission, the Energy department would set up 35 new power substations and lay more than 800 km power lines to ensure sufficient power to all sectors, he said.

Education should not be a commodity. The government has decided to provide all needed basic infrastructure for government schools and colleges and increase the students attendance. The government held many meetings regarding this issue and decided to modernize all schools. It was planned to give complete education to rural girls and bring them to the mainstream. To achieve this, it was planned to set up separate residential colleges for girls, he added.

State highway development

In the third phase, total 3,831 km state highways would be developed and in the fourth stage, 2,722 km road would be developed at a cost of Rs 3,480 crore. Because of heavy rains, the roads in coastal region and Malnad region were damaged, bridges were collapsed in many places. For the benefit of the public and school children, total 451 small connecting bridges would be constructed, he said.

In order to ensure hassle-free traffic movement in the Capital city, efforts were on to take up the Metro second stage, peripheral ring road and satellite town train project. Steps would also be taken to protect the tanks and scientific disposal of waste in the Capital city, he said.

 

 

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Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar shared heartfelt messages on X in celebration of the 69th Kannada Rajyotsava, highlighting the importance of Karnataka’s heritage, language, and culture.

CM Siddaramaiah emphasised that Kannada Rajyotsava is a day for committing to the preservation and growth of Karnataka’s identity, encompassing its people, language, culture, land, and water. He wished all Kannadigas a happy Kannada Rajyotsava, expressing the hope that love and care for Kannada would become a daily celebration. “Best wishes to all Kannadigas on Kannada Rajyotsava. ‘Sirigannadam Gelge, Sirigannadam Balge,’” he shared.

DCM DK Shivakumar celebrated digitally by taking a selfie with the ‘Kannada Filter’ on Instagram, encouraging others to join in. He nominated Speaker U.T. Khader to continue this digital campaign, marking it as a small step to spread Kannada’s glory worldwide. “May the lamp of Kannada shine forever, lighting the way for everyone,” he added.