Bengaluru, 26 Jan

Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Friday said the State government is working hard to realise the aspirations of the Constitution, as he highlighted that it has fulfilled the commitment by implementing the five guarantees successfully, and its management of the drought situation.

The Governor was speaking after unfurling the national tricolour at the Field Marshal Manekshaw Parade Ground here on the occasion of Republic Day.

"The Preamble of the Constitution provides to all its citizens justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. The Constitution of India has envisaged all its citizens equal opportunities and equal status to develop themselves with self dignity and thereby to contribute to the development of the nation. My government is working hard to realise these aspirations of the Constitution," Gehlot said.

In his address, he said, "My Government had assured the people of Karnataka that we would implement the five guarantees – Shakti Yojane, Anna Bhagya, Gruha Jyoti, Gruha Lakshmi and Yuvanidhi programme. I am happy to state that we have implemented all the five guarantees in the State."

The Congress in Karnataka had promised to implement five 'guarantees' ahead of the Assembly polls in the state — 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), additional 5 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti).

Further noting that as per norms and procedures delineated in the Drought Manual 2020, Karnataka has declared drought in 223 out of 236 taluks out of which 196 are categorised as severely drought affected, the Governor said, the State government had sought funds from NDRF for undertaking drought relief and mitigation measures in the 195 drought affected taluks.

"To alleviate the distress of farmers an interim relief of input subsidy of up to Rs 2,000 per farmer in the drought declared taluks is being released by the State Government directly to the Aadhaar-linked bank account of farmers. The process to transfer about Rs 580 crore to about 30 lakh farmers is underway," he said. He also highlighted various measures taken by the government in managing the drought situation in the state.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Ministers of his cabinet, legislators, officials were among the dignitaries present at the event, which saw a march past parade by security forces, police, NCC and contingents from various schools, followed by cultural programmes.

Listing out various programmes being implemented by the government in various sectors, Gehlot said, "Brand Bengaluru", an ambitious project of the Government of Karnataka has been formulated with an idea that the citizen's voice is the government's voice for all-round development of the city of Bengaluru and making it a global hub.

"Under this concept, advice was sought from experts and the public on 8 key issues. Discussions were held with public associations, civil defence forums, industry sector experts. Accordingly, more than 70,000 suggestions were collected and a committee is examining the suggestions and will make recommendations," he said.

Keeping in view the comprehensive development of Bengaluru and realising the need to lay more emphasis on smooth traffic, a Rs.2000 crore project has been launched and the process of inviting tender for white topping of major roads has been initiated, he further said, in order to find a permanent solution to the congestion of the city, it is proposed to construct tunnel roads at selected places. "The process of preparation of a Detailed Project Report with the help of an international agency for construction of a tunnel road of 2 km area has been initiated," he added.

The Governor said arrangements have been made to incorporate a photo of the design of the preamble of the 'Indian Constitution' in all the schools of the State and to read the preamble during daily prayers.

For the first time a scheme providing loan from Karnataka State Financial Corporation to minority community entrepreneurs at 6 per cent interest rate up to to Rs 10 crore is implemented, he said, adding during the current year, the government is taking steps to distribute various equipment to the differently-abled persons at a cost of Rs 54.40 crore.

On the occasion of the completion of 50 years of renaming as Karnataka, "Karnataka Sambhram-50" programmes are being celebrated all over the State throughout the year, he pointed out.

State-level Single Window Clearance Committees have approved 165 investment projects, wherein, Rs.45,325 crore investment will be made and will create employment opportunities to 42,292 people, the Governor said.

Pointing out that 42 per cent of the software exports from the country are contributed by Karnataka, he said, the State government regularly revises its policies to suit the changing requirements of IT & BT sectors and to upgrade the skills in the most advanced and emerging technologies.

Gehlot in his address, also noted that action has been taken to hand over the compensatory afforestation land to the Forest Department for speedy implementation of Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir and Drinking Water Project and to speed up planning works and land acquisition process.

The implementation of the prestigious Upper Krishna Project Stage-3 of North Karnataka will be expedited with priority for land acquisition and rehabilitation & resettlement activities under the project, he said.