'Urs was a rare visionary among politicians'

He was speaking at a special lecture on ‘D Devaraj Urs and his vision of development’, organised by the Institute of Development Studies, University of Mysore, in the city on Friday.

Prasad observed that Urs was the voice of marginalised communities and was instrumental in bringing people from lower classes to the mainstream. Furthermore, Prasad said that Urs fought to uphold social justice.

After Urs took over the reigns of the State in 1971, Prasad observed, a new era had dawned in the State politics. Urs became a role model to everybody with his thoughts of a visionary, he added.

The administration, which was controlled by the upper class, underwent a sea change as Urs demonstrated that people from all strata of the society had an opportunity in democracy, Prasad said.

Furthermore, during the eight years of his tenure as Chief Minister, Urs undertook several programmes and schemes to improve the living conditions of farmers and the common man. Commenting on the sad state of politics, Prasad bemoaned that considering the developments taking place, people look at politicians as criminals.

Former Professor ISEC, Abdul Aziz observed that Urs undertook several scientific programmes to develop agriculture, manufacturing and other industries.

Furthermore, he observed that the former Chief Minister laid the foundation for the development of dalits, socially, financially and politically. Registrar Evaluation B Ramu and IDS Director Prof K V Ayyanna were present.