GULBARGA: The Kannada Hitarakshana Vedike on Saturday accused successive State governments of neglecting the aspirations of the people in the border areas and giving room for separatist tendencies.

Addressing presspersons here, president of the vedike D.T. Narayana Gowda said the demand for a separate State by people living in border districts of the State was because of their neglect by the Government in terms of development.

He alleged that the people from neighbouring States living in border areas were imposing their language and culture on Kannadigas because of the indifferent attitude of the Government. There were schools where there were no Kannada teachers and languages other than Kannada were being taught. "This is a dangerous situation which needs to be addressed urgently by the Government,"

Mr. Narayana Gowda said.

He said the Government should initiate measures to set up more industries in border areas to tackle the unemployment problem among the Kannadigas living there. It should provide infrastructure to information technology and biotechnology industries to set up their units in border areas. The Government should give importance to complete the long-pending irrigation projects in such areas and utilise the State's share of Krishna and Cauvery waters.

The vedike would organise a State-level border area Kannadigas' convention in Belgaum on May 13 and 14. He lamented that in the convention held in Bidar on Friday not a single legislator participated.

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