JOIN USChief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said that State Government was committed towards the welfare of farmers, and had made a budgetary allocation of Rs 1,800 crore for water resources in Cauvery basin.
Addressing the gathering after inaugurating various developmental works and laying foundation for some, Siddaramaiah said that the works on modernisation of old and dilapidated canals had been taken up in Mysore and Mandya districts.
Canals that were catering to a vast catchment area of 26,000 acres had been crumbling at places, following damages.
Such works have been taken up on priority.
An amount of Rs 200 crore had been sanctioned for Harangi right bank canal, and Rs 84 crore had been released for Hunsur region.
Claiming that the ambitious ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme launched by him had helped in alleviating the woes of the downtrodden, Siddaramaiah said that the government has set aside Rs 4,400 crore for procuring rice per annum, against Rs 900 crore of the previous government.
‘Anna Bhagya’ has been pegged as ‘Kanna Bhagya’ by his critics, Sidaramaiah acknowledging that there were minor lapses.
He however dismissed the allegation that only those belonging to Ahinda (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and dalits) were benefitted by the scheme.
The Congress led government in the State has completed one year in office and had fulfiled 90 of the 160 promises made in its manifesto.
The government would fulfil all the remaining promises in the next four years.
Ministry demanded
Soon after Siddaramaiah concluded his speech, supporters of Hunsur MLA H P Manjunath raised slogans in favour of their leader and sought ministerial berth for him.
Siddaramaiah said that he would look into it, and added that not all legislators could be accommodated into the cabinet.