BANGALORE: Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh on Tuesday said that he will hold talks with industrialists in the information technology (IT) sector about providing employment opportunities to Kannadigas in their companies.

Mr. Singh was reacting to queries from presspersons on the sidelines of a function organised by the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) to inaugurate the flyover at National College in Basavanagudi.

On the criticism from the IT sector about lack of infrastructure in the city, the Chief Minister said: "We cannot provide the required infrastructure overnight. The State Government is committed to providing all facilities in the city."

Stating that he is aware that there are not enough employment opportunities for Kannadigas in IT companies, Mr. Singh said: "I will talk to the industrialists to provide jobs for Kannadigas in the 1,200 IT companies in the city."

IT firms not moving out

He denied reports that IT companies are moving out of Karnataka because of lack of infrastructure.

"We are doing our best to develop the city on international lines. We are spending crores of rupees on flyovers, roads and other facilities. If required, I will again hold talks with the president of the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce Anant Koppar," he said.

Earlier, speaking at the function, the Chief Minister called upon all the elected representatives in the State to forget party affiliations and work in coordination for the development of the city.

Metro rail

Mr. Singh said there is no need for people to panic about the proposed metro rail project. "There is no second opinion about implementing the project. We want to decongest traffic and ensure that people do not face any problem while commuting from one place to another," he said. "Just because some people have raised doubts about the feasibility of the project, it does not mean we will drop the project. We will implement it on the lines of the Delhi Metro so that 16 lakh people will benefit from it," the Chief Minister said.

ONGC project

Mr. Singh said as proposed by the Centre, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC) project involving an investment of Rs. 21,000 crores will definitely come up in the State.

"The Prime Minister has promised us that the project will come up here," the Chief Minister said.

Earlier, the Chief Minister unveiled a statue of H. Narasimhaiah.

Deputy Chief Minister M.P. Prakash, Bangalore South MP Ananth Kumar, Basavanagudi MLA K. Chandrashekar, Mayor R. Narayanaswamy, former Mayor, P.R. Ramesh, Kempegowdanagar corporator, Geeta Sadashiv, chairpersons of various standing committees and BMP officials were present on th occasion.

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