CM doles out goodies for his native district

Infra, heritage gets ` 100 cr each; M-trac at a cost of ` 40 cr

As anticipated, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has given a bumper to his native in the State Budget, tabled in Bangalore, on Friday.

Keeping in mind, the growth and development of Mysore and the need to improve its basic infrastructure, Siddaramaiah has made a budgetary allocation of Rs 100 crore.

Similar is an allocation of funds (Rs 100 crore) for conserving heritage structures of the city, especially the Lansdowne Market building, Devaraja Market, development of Irwin road, upgradation of the Jamboo Savari route, restoration of prominent circles, among others.

Hospital

Finally, the demand for a super-speciality hospital is set to be fulfilled, to give a fillip to the health sector. An amount of Rs six crore is allocated for the 250-bed hospital. On the education front, Maharani’s Commerce and MBA College is planned at Paduvarahalli, with a hostel. 

An additional hostel facility will be provided on the land behind Nanjaraja Bahadur Choultry on Vinobha Road. 

Taking into cognisance the long-pending demand for an exclusive authority for tourism development, with Mysore being a major tourism hub, the chief minister has announced constitution of the Cauvery Tourism Authority. In addition to this, a ‘Talkad Kaveri Utsava’ is planned.

To streamline the burgeoning traffic and violations, M-Track (Mysore track) is planned at an estimated cost of Rs 40 crore, followed by the construction of district office building, creation of open spaces and parks in 10 city corporations limits, including Mysore.

A mention must be made of plans to remember the contribution of the champion of backward classes and former chief minister D Devaraj Urs. Devaraj Urs Bhavan is sanctioned at a cost of Rs 5 crore at Hunsur.

Neighbouring districts too have got a few sops. An estimated Rs 2 crore is sanctioned for the platinum jubilee celebration of the formation of Mandya district and birth anniversary of the erstwhile ruler of Mysore Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar. At Chamarajanagar, sub-regional centre is planned at a cost of Rs 3 crore.

Reactions

Meanwhile, the Budget has received mixed reactions. Chairman of the District Coordination Committee, Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), Mysore, S Sudhakar Shetty has termed the outlay as well-balanced, displaying social commitment.

General secretary of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene Badagalapura Nagendra has chided it, as just a balance sheet. Nagendra has alleged that Bangalore seems to be the State for the chief minister, for allocating a lion’s share to the Capital.