Dakshina Kannada district has excelled in fields of education, finance, trade: Siddaramaiah

Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada district has excelled in the fields of education, finance and trade. The district should also set an example for brotherhood and harmony, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said.

He was speaking after inaugurating 'Praja Soudha' the new district administration complex of Dakshina Kannada at Padil, Mangaluru on Friday.

Urging the people to strive towards stopping communal riots in the region and help the administration in establishing peace and order, Siddaramaiah stressed on the need to make a state, a peaceful garden of all communities, which is also the motto of the Constitution.

He meanwhile assured of providing second official language status to Tulu language. However, Kannada will be supreme in Karnataka, he said.

The CM said that the state government is committed to make Dakshina Kannada district podi- free district inorder to solve the issues of farmers and poor landholders.

The Revenue department under the guidance of Minister Krishna Bhairegowda has initiated work and in a few months DK will be podi free, he said.

Assembly Speaker U T Khader who was the chief guest stated that the new DC's office in Padil will be a gateway towards the formation of New Mangaluru. He meanwhile urged the Chief Minister to declare Tulu as the second official language of the state.

District in-charge minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said that the new DC's complex is built at a cost of Rs 75 crore, with the Smart City funds from the centre and the state. The complex is spread over 5.89 acres of land. The groundbreaking was done by CM Siddaramaiah in 2016 and it is a moment of pride that he himself has inaugurated it.

Revenue Minister Krishna Bhairegowda said that the work on the new DC's office came to a standstill between 2019 to 2022 as the then government did not sanction funds. However, the present state government has completed the work by sanctioning funds. The work on converting the 200 year old DC's office has also been initiated at a cost of Rs two crore, he added. He further said that the survey of lands of 30,000 farmers has been initiated towards providing RTCs and 12,000 of them have been completed. 1,32,290 acres of government lands have been sanctioned to the cultivators in the state. After conducting the survey and Podi, 8000 RTCs have been provided under the Nanna Bhoomi programme in Dakshina Kannada, he added.

The RTCs were symbolically handed over to the beneficiaries on the occasion.

The CM also inaugurated the state-of-the art Kabaddi and Badminton indoor stadium in Urwa.

Siddaramaiah visited Ullal dargah on the occasion of uroos and offered prayers.

Urban development minister Suresh B S, MP Capt Brijesh Chowta, Puttur MLA Ashok Kumar Rai, MLC Ivan D'souza, MLC Manjunath Bhandary and Deputy Commissioner Mullai Muhilan M P were present.

Kamath vs Siddaramaiah

During his speech, Mangaluru City South MLA D Vedavyas Kamath who presided over the programme said that the new DC's office complex was built under the funds of Smart City, an ambitious programme of the Central Government and a dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In reply, CM Siddaramaiah, in his address replied that Smart City programme also has a 50 percent contribution by the state government which should not be forgotten.

The CM meanwhile asked why the former BJP government in the state did not resume works on the New DC's office complex between 2019 and 2022.

It was the current state government which resumed work again.

"One should not misinterpret history or else we will lose people 's trust. There should not be politics in development ", the CM added.

Speaking on 'Praja Soudha', the new DCs office complex, he stated that the expectations of people who arrive at this office to solve their issues, should not be turned down.

He meanwhile stated that the allegations on lack of funds for development works in the state is totally baseless.

The capital expenditure in the current budget of the state government has been Rs 83,000 crore, whis is Rs 31,000 crore excess than the last financial year's budget, he said and asserted that the state government is committed to make Karnataka a model in the development.

Some protestors who waved black flags at the CM's convoy were detained by the police at Kavoor prior to the formal function.