“The life of farmers has worsened over the years and has become miserable. Uncontrolled migration from rural to urban areas had lead to villages becoming ‘old age homes’”, he said in his inaugural address on the opening day of the continued legislature session.

“Thousands of crores have been utilised for rural development and agriculture, yet the farmer has to struggle to get fertiliser or financial help. A majority of the farmers are still under below poverty line (BPL) and are finding it difficult to make ends meet”, the CM said.
The chief minister said that it was the duty of the legislators to ensure that the various programmes launched by the government reach the farmers without any leakage. However, petty politics had become the greatest hurdle in achieving this goal.

“We may have won the elections, but the farmers are disappointed with us,” he added.
Stating that Karnataka is placed below Maharashtra and the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the Human Development Index (HDI) ranking, the Chief Minister pointed out that in his own village of Bookanakere in Mandya, the school he studied in still has no compound wall, and faces shortage of classrooms.

As a case in point to illustrate the deplorable state of affairs, Yeddyurappa said that his government had released Rs 100 crore for each of the eight city corporations in the State.
However, except for two corporations, the remaining had not even submitted the blueprints for the various projects they plan to implement. “The corporators seem to be more concerned about getting a larger share for their wards than anything else,” he said.

* State literacy level is 66.60%; women’s literacy at 56.9%
* Literacy rate is only 35.9 % among women in Raichur
* Infant mortality rate in the State: is 48 per 1000 births.
* Nearly 90 % of houses in many rural areas have no toilets.
* 26 of the 39 most backward taluks in the state are in North Karnataka
* Karnataka occupies 7th position in national Human Development Index