Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai showers State with 11 new plans on Independence Day

KEY STORY

• In his maiden Independence Day speech, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday announced 11 new schemes, all of which centred around the all-important numeral 75, to mark India’s 75th Independence Day. The Chief Minister covered a range of sectors, making it almost a mini-budget speech.

• Under the Amrith Gram Panchayats scheme, 750 gram panchayats will be taken up for development projects, including installation of streetlights, supply of drinking water to each household, 100 per cent segregation and disposal of solid waste, scientific disposal of wastewater, use of solar power, schools with digital libraries, etc.

• People who don’t own houses in about 750 select gram panchayats will be provided housing under the Amrith Rural Housing Scheme. In the Amrith Farmer Production Centres Scheme, 750 production and marketing centres will be set up to help farmers, fishermen and weavers.

• At a cost of Rs 35 lakh per centre for three years, a total of Rs 225 crore will be spent on the scheme, Bommai said. With the Amrith Nirmala Nagara programme, 75 urban local bodies (ULBs) will be selected for the overall cleanliness and beautification drive at a cost of Rs 1 crore per ULB.

  New schemes to push school infra

   

• Under the Amrith School Infrastructure Programme, Rs 75 crore will be spent on providing basic infrastructure facilities, such as building, lab, library, toilets etc to 750 schools, with Rs 10 lakh each.

• In the Amrith Anganwadi Centers scheme, Rs 7.5 crore will be spent on upgrading infrastructure in 750 Anganwadis with Rs 1 lakh each. Bommai announced Amirth Self-Help Micro-Enterprises scheme to give a fillip to 7,500 self-help groups in the State by setting aside Rs 75 crore seed money to set up microenterprises with Rs 1 lakh each.

• A total of 750 school and college students will be identified under the Amrith Community Development Programme to motivate them to be involved in ‘productive community services’, he said. Under the Amrith Health Infrastructure Upgradation Programme, 750 primary health centres will be upgraded at an estimated cost of Rs 20 lakh each, amounting to Rs 150 crore.

• Under the Amrith Skill Training Programme, the government intends to spend Rs 112 crore over two years for skill development of 75,000 youth belonging to Scheduled caste, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Class and minority communities.

• The Amrith Sports Adoption Programme will train and encourage 75 talented sportspersons from the State who have the potential to win medals in the upcoming Paris Olympics.