HAVERI: International-level infrastructure will be provided in the Byadgi Taluk of Haveri district in Karnataka, said Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday.
Speaking after inaugurating and laying foundation stones for the slew of developmental works of various departments here on Wednesday, CM Basavaraj Bommai said in Byadgi taluka where chilli, vegetables and quinoa are grown, the processing units need to be constructed for value addition.
“The government will encourage this. Around one lakh hectares of land are irrigated in the district and the present government has given top priority to permanent works, ” he said while assuring the audience.
“Under the Raitha Shakti program, Rs 392.51 crore has been transferred to the bank accounts of farmers through the Department of Bio-Technology (DBT). Rs 460 crore has been distributed to 11 lakh children under the Raitha Vidya Nidhi scheme. These facilities have been provided without inviting applications from the beneficiaries. As many as 6 lakh agricultural labourers have been identified of which nearly 2 lakh kinds are in the various stages of education.
Already, the Vidya Nidhi money has been released to 47,747 students. Farmers give food if they are strengthened and the country will become self-reliant with self-respect,” he added.
Speaking on the benefits to be recovered from the Union Budget, the CM said, “The Union Budget has given a lot of impetus to agriculture and reserved Rs 1.5 lakh crore for this sector. Besides, Rs 5,300 crore has been given for the Upper Bhadra Project,” he said while thanking sincerely to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for fulfilling this promise.
Bommai said the government will pay the additional premium of crop insurance worth Rs 750 crore on behalf of farmers and this proposal was accepted on Tuesday. Under Union Government’s Kisan Sanman scheme, Rs 15,000 crore has been provided to farmers. In the coming days, more facilities will be provided to the farming community.
Approval has been given for improving education, health, roads, and tanks in Byadgi taluka. The grants will be provided in the coming budget for the degradation of Motebennur Primary Health Center as the Community Health Center informed the CM. “We are ready to give all kinds of assistance to set up the processing units for crops of this region,” he added.
Speaking on the opening of medical colleges soon, the CM said that 12 cold storage units were established in the State and approval will be given for the additional grants for the generator sets.
“Byadgi town must grow and development works will be taken up in Basaveshwara Nagar and Main Road. The wheel of development must continue. The medical college will be inaugurated soon. The incumbent government has established medical and engineering colleges, improved irrigation facilities, and set up mega-dairy, mega APMC, and Textile Park in the Haveri district, ” said the Karnataka Chief Minister.
The CM also announced projects worth Rs 1614 crores for the Haveri district. Hitting back at the previous governments, CM Bommai said that the previous CM had charged that he did nothing for the Haveri district.
“Even I know how to give back reply politically. During the previous government, Rs 271 crore had been given for irrigation projects for the entire Haveri district. Rs 200 crore of which didn’t come,” he said.
“Our government has given Rs 1,614 crore exclusively for irrigation schemes. The soil of the district is very fertile and providing irrigation will help to grow good crops. The Upper Bhadra project was started in 1994 and the Irrigation Minister H.K. Patil had said that he will pass through the Haveri district only after the completion of this project. However, the project did not start till 2008. When I was Water Resources Minister, officials informed me that it will take two years for the completion, ” he added. (ANI)