Outsiders being given charge of Kodagu draws disappointment

The charge of Kodagu district being given to ministers from outside the district has been the main reason for the disappointment among people and MLAs in the district.

During the recent expansion of the state cabinet, two MLAs from the district were hopeful of being inducted to the cabinet and becoming the district in-charge minister. But, the calculations went wrong and MLAs Appachu Ranjan and K G Bopaiah were not inducted into the cabinet.

However, as 10 new ministers have been inducted to the cabinet, it is said that the district in-charge minister of Kodagu will be changed. A leader from BJP said that smooth administration will be affected if the district in-charge ministers are changed frequently.

H C Mahadevappa, K J George, Dinesh Gundu Rao and M R Seetharam were the district in-charge ministers of Kodagu during the chief ministerial tenure of Siddaramaiah.

When H D Kumaraswamy was the chief minister, Sa Ra Mahesh was given the charge of Kodagu.

During the present BJP-led state government, Housing Minister V Somanna has been given additional charge of Kodagu, along with that of Mysuru district. Somanna has not been visiting the district often.

It is opined that it will be better to have an MLA from the district to address the grievances and to fetch necessary assistance from the government, as the local MLAs will be well aware of the problems.

Also, it will be convenient for the MLAs to conduct meetings with district-level officers. The district in-charge ministers from outside the district only come to the district when they are free and after convening meetings, they return to Bengaluru. The follow-up will not be carried out in these cases, the people said.

For instance, during the flash floods and landslides in 2018 and 2019, the district witnessed major devastation, resulting in hundreds of people losing their homes and many lives lost. Except for 33 families, other flood victims have not been able to get rehabilitation from the government so far.

On the other hand, agriculturists in the district have been facing problems such as the aftermath of floods, poor market rates and wild animal and human conflict, which needs to be addressed.