Kalaburagi (Karnataka), Sep 17 (IANS): Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Thursday urged the people of Kalyan Karnataka to remember the contributions of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge in securing Article 371J, which provides special constitutional status and benefits to the region.
Addressing the Kalyan Karnataka Utsav in Kalaburagi on Kalyan Karnataka Liberation Day, Shivakumar said Article 371J had opened new opportunities for the people of the region in education and employment. “People of Kalyan Karnataka should not forget Mallikarjun Kharge, who worked to build the lives of the people of this region,” he said.
He recalled the contributions of Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Kharge in bringing Article 371J into effect. According to Shivakumar, Sonia Gandhi ensured the support of 404 Lok Sabha members for the constitutional amendment.
He said the real objective of Article 371J was to ensure that every family could have at least one government employee, every village could have a doctor, and villages could have engineers.
“Young people of this region are building their lives because of Article 371J. This is the dream of 371J, and the Congress party has made this dream a reality,” Shivakumar said.
He said the region had received around Rs 25,000 crore in special grants over the last 12 years, of which Rs 14,000 crore had already been spent. As many as 41,103 works had been taken up, with 32,985 completed and 8,118 at various stages of implementation.
He said 79,383 youths had so far secured employment under the provisions and that the government was currently undertaking recruitment to 72,000 posts, of which 32,000 would be available to people from the region.
The Chief Minister said the Congress governments had played a role in the development of Kalyan Karnataka and recalled the establishment of the Hyderabad-Karnataka Development Board in 1990 based on a report by former Chief Minister Dharam Singh.
He also highlighted the contribution of Kharge to the region’s railway and healthcare infrastructure, including the Gulbarga-Wadi and Bidar-Gulbarga railway lines and the development of a major ESI hospital.
“Kalyan Karnataka is emerging as a healthcare hub,” he said, adding that super-speciality hospitals were being established in Yadgir, Koppal and Bidar. He said Rs 423 crore was being spent on strengthening facilities including the Indira Gandhi Mother and Child Hospital, Kidwai and Jayadeva hospitals.
Shivakumar said the government had made the welfare and development of Kalyan Karnataka a priority.
“Every step may be small, but the thought should be big. Development is not merely the construction of buildings; the peaceful life of the last person should be the measure of development,” he said.
He said the government was working to take administration to people’s doorsteps through the Praja Seva campaign, with ministers, legislators and officials holding programmes at district, taluk and hobli levels on the second and fourth Saturdays.
He also said 10,000 Bharat Jodo Yuva Sanghas were being established to develop leadership qualities among young people and provide opportunities in sports, art and music.
On infrastructure, Shivakumar said the government had launched the Kalyanapatha scheme to improve roads in the region. Around Rs 1,000 crore had been allocated for developing 1,150 km of rural roads across 38 Assembly constituencies, with Rs 120 crore earmarked for each constituency.
He said a special Cabinet meeting held in Kalaburagi had cleared projects worth Rs 11,770 crore and that the government had set a target of constructing 350 KPS schools.
The government had also provided more than 10,000 medical and over 31,000 engineering admission opportunities to students from the region through Article 371J, he said.
