Karnataka - Belgaum   

`Devaraj Urs was a champion of backward classes'

Staff Correspondent

Rich tributes paid to former Chief Minister

Belgaum: Minister for Horticulture and district in-charge Shashikant Naik has said that the former Chief Minister the late D. Devaraj Urs was a champion of backward classes and the downtrodden, who opened the doors of progress for the deprived sections of society in the State.

Speaking at a function to celebrate the 91st birth anniversary of Devaraj Urs here on Sunday, he said the former Chief Minister had brought in radical changes in the socio-economic conditions of backward classes and other economically weaker sections of society.

Acting Chairman of the Legislative Council Sachchidanand Khot recalled how Devaraj Urs fought against pressures from the elite to bring in land reforms. It was he [Devaraj Urs] who renamed Mysore State as Karnataka.

He said the Janata Dal (Secular)-Bharatiya Janata Party Government had made budgetary allocations to the tune of Rs. 2,000 crore, of which Rs. 650 crore had been released towards welfare of backward classes.

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