The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Reservation in private sector unlikely, says Deve Gowda

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Reservation in private sector unlikely, says Deve Gowda

Staff Reporter

Urges Government to provide subsidised housing sites to the lower middle class

WORKERS' DAY: The former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda arriving for the May Day celebrations at the Janata Dal (Secular) party office in Bangalore on Monday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: The former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda on Monday sounded sceptical about reservation being extended to the private sector under the present circumstances.

Speaking at the May Day function organised by the labour wing of the Janata Dal (Secular) here, he said he would prostrate himself before anyone who succeeded in ensuring reservation in the private sector. (Mr. Deve Gowda organised a seminar in Mysore three years ago on reservation in the private sector.)

Hitting out at those who described the Government as a "father-son government," Mr. Deve Gowda said the Government was a coalition of the JD(S) and the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was only giving certain suggestions in his capacity as the national president of the JD(S). His main concern was the implementation of programmes for the welfare of the people. He would not hesitate to criticise the Government if it did not live up to the expectation of the people.

Rising land prices

Mr. Deve Gowda referred to the steep rise in the price of land in Bangalore and said he had suggested to the Government to provide residential sites measuring 25ft x 30ft to lower middle-class people in all the districts. The sites should be allotted at a subsidised rate and the amount could be collected in monthly instalments. He had also suggested that the Government introduce an insurance scheme for an assured sum of Rs. 20, 000 with an affordable monthly premium. The Government and the insured persons should share the premium equally.

Mr. Deve Gowda said the Governments might talk of different schemes and programmes for the uplift of the poor. But all those programmes would remain on paper if the political will to implement them was absent. "This Government is committed to implementing measures to provide minimum basic civic facilities such as housing, food, water and employment," he declared.

Criticising land developers who were building luxury houses worth crores of rupees, Mr. Deve Gowda said, " Of late land has become dearer than gold." Matters would go out of hand if the Government failed to assess the situation and take corrective measures. If the upward trend in property values was allowed to continue, it would have catastrophic effects, he warned. That was the essence of the letters he had written to the Government. He had also drawn the attention of the present Chief Minister to the sensitive issue.

At one point Mr. Deve Gowda said, "I am not concerned about the fate of any Government either in the State or in the country. I am not under anybody's obligation to express what I feel and think." It was left to the Government to understand its obligations to the people and respond to their needs or quit, he added.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail