Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Friday kick-started his village stay campaign ‘Grama Vastavya 2.0’ from Gurmitkal in Yadgir district. Kumaraswamy had announced that he will be starting his programme soon after the party suffered a major setback in the Lok Sabha elections.
On Friday, Kumaraswamy announced a slew of developmental programmes for Yadgir district. From ensuring top-notch infrastructure for government schools to constructing a 300-bed district hospital, Kumaraswamy said that he had directed the district administration and concerned ministers to ensure that the work is completed in a speedy manner.
“Grama Vastavya is not a political gimmick. I had started this programme 12 years ago in a bid to develop rural areas by obtaining information from the people itself. This is not just a one-night stay at a village for me. This is a way for me to learn about the problems people in Gurmitkal are facing. The district officials and gram panchayat officials have briefed me about the problems in Gurmitkal,” Kumaraswamy said.
The Chief Minister promised to ensure that every household in the district would have drinking water taps within the next year-and-a-half. “The district administration had informed me that there is no veterinarian in Gurmitkal and Chandargi village some time ago. They said that many people were complaining that their cattle were dying as there was no doctor. The veterinary hospital will open tomorrow and we have also appointed doctors there so the cattle do not die,” Kumaraswamy said.
Kumaraswamy held talks with the people of Gurmitkal at the government school between 1 and 6 pm. Kumaraswamy announced that a 300-bed district hospital would be constructed for Yadgir. Until now, the people had to depend on the PHCs and the Kalaburgi district hospital. “There is no ICU facility and barely any beds in the taluk hospital. I promise you that the 300-bed hospital will be constructed within a year. We will also ensure that the roads leading to the hospital are laid properly so that people do not have to struggle to reach the hospital,” Kumaraswamy added.
The CM also announced that the district administration has been directed to issue tenders for a detailed project report to construct an underground drainage system in Yadgir district.
“12-years-ago, when I was the CM, I wanted to realise Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of swaraj. He had said that the country will achieve freedom only when each and every village in the country has the basic necessities to improve livelihood. Grama Vastavya is what I believe would be a way to realise Gandhiji’s dreams. By the evening, I will review all the problems – short term and long term. Those issues which can be sorted out today will be done so,” he said.
Embarrassed by JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda and his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy’s defeat in the general elections, the Chief Minister had vowed to “show the people of Karnataka” that voting against the JD(S) was a “regrettable decision.”
Speaking to the media, CM Kumaraswamy on Thursday had said, “I have taken it as a challenge. I will change gears and make Karnataka the number one state in the country in terms of development. I will win back people’s confidence so much so that they would repent for not voting for us in the Lok Sabha elections.”