When will Chikkaballapur district gets its due?

In the 20 months of the BJP Government, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa had never once made an attempt to visit the district. Neither the chief minister nor any of the ministers had ever attempted to visit Chikkaballapur district.

The people of this district wish that Chikkaballapur should soon tread the paths of progress, this, in the backdrop that it is located very near to the international airport. But till date, there are no such signs of development. This has only left the people here in despair.

It is two years since, the new district was carved. Till today, there have not been any worthy or important projects implemented in the district, which could boast of its progress. It is even remarkable to note that the even ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the complex which would host all the district offices is postponed on one account or the other.

It can be recalled that last year in the month of September, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa was supposed to arrive to the City to set in motion the implementation of various developmental projects. However, the programme was postponed.

Programme postponed
Even on January 16, the chief minister was supposed to visit Chikkaballapur. But stating that the day was inauspicious, the programme had been again cancelled. After this, January 22 was fixed and even this was postponed. And now, according to the latest information by the district administration, the CM is expected to visit Chikkaballapur on February 16. Even this time, the people are not very optimistic.

Apart from the CM, even the ministers holding important portfolios like Revenue, Irrigation, Women and Children Welfare, Public Works Department, Agriculture, etc had not bothered to visit the district even once.

 Chikkaballapur district is extremely popular for its horticultural produce. Fruits like grapes, all kinds of vegetables including potatoes and onions in particular, different varieties of flowers are grown in large quantity here. Silk is cultivated in large quality in Chikkaballapur and Shidlaghatta taluks. Mangoes are cultivated in Chintamani and the surrounding areas. Even the ministers concerned with these departments had also not bothered to visit the district.

Perhaps the only occasion when the Horticulture minister had visited the City and had attended a meeting at the Deputy Commissioner’s office, along with the officials of the Horticulture Department, was during a progress review of his division. Apart from this, none of them had even bothered to pay a visit here.

Surprise visit
Again, Minister for Sericulture Venkataramanappa had given a surprise visit to the sericulture market in Shidlaghatta. He however, did not even bother to review the progress of his department. Nor did he interact with the farmers nor listened to the problems of the sericulture cultivators. Frustrated by this, the farmers had gheraoed him and had protested in front of him.

Hospitals ill-equipped
There are problems related to health in Chikkaballapur district. People residing in Bagepalli and Gudibande taluks were suffering from fluorosis. The basic infrastructure in the hospitals located in the taluk centres and in the district centres were not upto the mark. These hospitals were facing problems of some kind or the other.
A lot of patients were suffering due to lack to efficient treatment. These hospitals were not well-equipped and required expert doctors to handle the situations. The taluk-level hospital at the district centre, which had 100-bed facility was upgraded as a district hospital. Though it is referred to as a district hospital, however, the building, staff, medical and non-medical team here require to be updated to meet the present challenges.

The quality of milk, food supplied to the hospital was of sub-standard quality. There was no infrastructure available to meet the growing demand. Problems dogged every section of the hospital. And inspite of all these problems, the Health minister had not once paid a visit here. Usually the chief minister and his ministers atleast ensured to pay a visit within one year’s time to all the districts. It was also their responsibility.
However, local MLA K P Bachchegowda is of the opinion that since there are no BJP MLAs hailing from Chikkaballapur district, the BJP might have not taken any interest.
No packages announced

Ever since the BJP Government has come to power in the State, it had not announced any special package or grants for the district. Apart from the grants sanctioned by the earlier government, nothing much had been done for its progress. Hence, the people here feel neglected.

So many reasons had contributed for the BJP government’s disinterest towards Chikkaballapur, that the district had been totally forgotten, alleges MLA N Sampangi.
Apart from the above problems, the district was also facing drinking water problem. There were no permanent water resources to opt for a long-term solution. The Government was not paying any heed to the agitation staged by the people of the district to seek permanent water supply.

When compared to Ramanagara, Chikkaballapur had not received any facilities, expressed farmer leader Yaluvahalli N Ramesh. Former president of the Taluk Panchayat H V Chikkagarigareddy, member of the Union Government’s Food Conservation Department’s State Task Force C K Prabhakar, Co-ordinator of Sir M V Pro-People’s Action Forum Anjaneya Reddy are all of the same opinion.