JOIN USBJP asks Karnataka ministers to start talking about development
Karnataka Rural Development & Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister K S Eshwarappa revealed on Saturday that the BJP central leadership had asked all ministers to start showcasing developmental works as the state is nearing elections.
“Yes, there’s a direction (from the high command),” Eshwarappa said during a news conference.
Like Eshwarappa, several BJP ministers are lining up news conferences to showcase their achievements.
“When I go to my village or constituency, I have to tell people what was promised and what was delivered. So, we’re telling people our achievements and seeking votes based on that. This is politics, no question about that,” Eshwarappa said.
“The Congress, on the other hand, is raising Hindu-Muslim issues. Even Al-Qaeda got involved now,” he said, referring to the Hijab issue. “Congress kept saying BJP has nothing to show on development. So, we’re giving out the full list of our achievements. However, when issues like Hijab are raised, we aren’t mouni babas to keep quiet,” he said.
Back-to-back communal issues have rocked Karnataka this year. The BJP central leadership is said to have stepped in to make sure the party strikes a balance in its poll narrative by bringing development to the fore.
Eshwarappa said Karnataka will cover all 97 lakh rural households with tap water connections by next year under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), which is known as Mane Manege Gange in the state. “Before this project, only 25% of rural households had tap water connections. We have provided new connections to 20.56 lakh households and the coverage is 46%, which is on par with the national average,” Eshwarappa said.
“In a year's time, I am confident we will cover all 97 lakh households,” he said.
The minister also said that Karnataka had achieved a “record of sorts” under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). “In 2021-22, our target was 13 crore person-days. We achieved this in December itself and the Centre gave us an additional three crore person-days. By the end of March, we achieved 3.15 crore person-days,” he said, adding that 32 lakh households benefited from MGNREGA.
“More importantly, 6.97 crore person-days were done by women, which we believe has empowered them,” he said.
Also, Eshwarappa said that the daily wage under the rural jobs scheme has been hiked from Rs 289 to Rs 309.
“Earlier, wage payments took 6-8 months. There was corruption also with underpayments and harassment. Now, wage payments are being made directly to the bank account of the worker within 15 days,” he said.
Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, Eshwarappa said Karnataka built 12.62 lakh individual toilets, 1,496 community toilets and 3,982 waste processing units. “We plan to have a cluster in every district comprising 45-46 gram panchayats to streamline dry and wet waste management across the state,” he said.
Over a span of 18 months, Eshwarappa said the government set up 5,623 rural libraries. Of them, 2,214 have digital libraries and the rest will also be covered in the days to come, he added.
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