“No party and leader can afford to play politics by ignoring the interests of North Karnataka. If anyone does, they will be doing so at their own peril,” was the refrain of the then chief minister H D Kumaraswamy during one of his trips to Gulbarga. For once, he was speaking some truth. It was also an acknowledgement of increasing assertive and bargaining power of the awakened people of North Karnataka in general and Hyderabad-Karnataka - which continues to be one of the most backward regions of India - in particular.

A number of agitations that have been going on for the last several years in the northern parts of the State have at least resulted in registering their lung power, forcing the powers-that-be to listen to them. The prolonged and sustained agitations for the establishment of High Court benches in Gulbarga and Hubli-Dharwad, and the stir demanding a separate statehood for the Hyderabad-Karnataka region appear to have made some impact in the corridors of power. However, dividends continue to evade as Northern Karnataka is yet to carve a long path to achieve desired growth and development.

The year 2007 which saw unprecedented political upheaval did not make a significant dent vis-a-vis the development of North Karnataka. The only consolation was the formal acceptance of the D M Nanjundappa Committee report on regional imbalance and incorporation of some of its aspects in the policy document for the year 2007-08 by the JD(S)-BJP coalition government.

The Nanjundappa Committee report, after gathering dust for years in the planning cupboards, was brought to light in the year with the government earmarking Rs 1,571 crore for its implementation. There is a wrong notion that the Nanjundappa Committee report benefits only North Karnataka. The report addresses the regional imbalance of the State in totality and in the process the natural beneficiary is North Karnataka. Although monetary allocations have been made, priorities of thrust areas for growth and development have not been fixed.

The Kalasa Banduri Nala project, aimed at quenching the thirst of Hubli-Dharwad twin cities, created a lot of noise in the year. The hopes of the people were sought to be revived by performing  bhoomi pooja. It was a shortlived glory. The project aims to link Kalasa and Banduri nalas, tributaries of Mahadayi river, to Ghataprabha, for providing drinking water to the twin cities besides some other towns remain in the wilderness.

With a hostile Central Government playing the Goa card, which has taken objection to the diversion proposal of the downstream State, is yet to see light at the other end of the tunnel. The lack of serious political pursuance on the part of Karnataka to prevail upon the Centre to give its final clearance has cost the project dearly. The time overrun, needless to say, will have abnormal cost overrun.

Though the Kumaraswamy Government took a bold decision to hold the legislature session in Belgaum, it conveniently neglected Gulbarga for the same purpose. Although the government had issued an order to explore the possibilities of holding sessions in Belgaum and Gulbarga, the designated committee never visited Gulbarga.
The government made yet another abortive attempt to divide the biggest districts - Gulbarga and Belgaum for creating two more new districts, Yadgir or Shahapur out of Gulbarga, and Gokak or Chikkodi out of Belgaum. Kumaraswamy managed to carve out the two new districts of Ramanagara and Chikballapur out of Bangalore Rural and Kolar respectively. He however chose to bury the proposals of the new districts of North Karnataka. The reorganisation of the two northern districts for efficient administration and for better public convenience continues to remain elusive.

To boost tourism, the State has created three tourist circuits and there is not even a mention of Hyderabad-Karnataka region in them. The tourist potential of Gulbarga, Bidar, Raichur and Koppal has remained unexploited. The woeful  infrastructure connectivity to the historical sites of the region is a major handicap. The proposal to set up a development authority for Sannati, an ancient Buddhist monument on the banks of river Bhima in Chittapur taluk is yet to come out of the red tape.

The proposal is to develop Sannati as an international Buddhist centre with scope for study and research. Sannati is a place which gave a decisive turn to the history of Karnataka with the discovery of Buddhist settlements of pre-Satavahana period. There is not even a motorable road to the historically significant place, let alone other infrastructure facilities.

After dilly-dallying for decades, the Gulbarga airport appears to be taking some shape with the State Government selecting the agency for the development of the first ever civilian airport of Hyderabad-Karnataka region. If all goes well, the airport may become a reality in a couple of years.

Gulbarga and Raichur are the two agriculture-intensive districts of the State. While Gulbarga is served by the UKP, Bennithora, Amarja and Gandorinala irrigation projects, Raichur is benefited by both Tungabhadra and UKP. The Government had promised to open an university of agriculture sciences at Raichur. It appears Raichur has to wait for it for long.

One of the most heartening features of the year was the opening of two new government medical colleges at Bidar and Raichur. Though the initiative was taken by the Dharam Singh Government, its successor had to continue it by pumping the required funds. The two medical colleges have helped poor students of the region to pursue their medical career.

Despite the opening of a separate commissionerate for primary and secondary education in Gulbarga to cater to the needs of seven North East districts of the State, the results are not encouraging. Gulbarga still has the highest number of dropouts and highest number of children out of school.

The Karnataka Togari Mandali (Tur Board) based in Gulbarga has become one more run of the mill establishments not being able to do justice to tur growers. Its only function appears to be marginal market intervention to stabilise tur prices. The Board is expected to take up all other allied activities to improve tur productivity and production by joining hands with other institutions. The Board is yet to make its presence felt.

On the rail front, there appears to be no respite for the miseries of people. The 115-km-long Gulbarga-Bidar new railway line has been languishing for the last 10 years. It has been taken up on a 50 per cent cost sharing basis with the State Government. The Centre has made an outlay of Rs 20 cr during the year 2007-08 but the State has not released sufficient funds out of its share. This is an ambitious project as it would reduce the journey period between Bangalore and Delhi by about four hours.