Belgaum: Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and some senior government officials now in Belgaum in connection with the special session of the legislature on Tuesday were put through a class on what ails Belgaum and the border areas and what needs to be done by the Government to meet the expectations of the people.

The occasion enabled the Chief Minister to get across a message to the people's representatives that here was a Government that cared for their requirements. Minister for Horticulture and district in-charge Shashikanth Naik served as course director of sorts for the programme held at the Circuit House.

A Cabinet meeting scheduled here on Wednesday is expected to take several important decisions pertaining to the overall development of Belgaum.

After the meeting with the Chief Minister, Mr. Naik told The Hindu that one of the important demands of the local people was that a regular winter session of the legislature be held in Belgaum for which the Government should begin constructing a suitable building on the lines of the Vidhana Soudha. The Chief Minister agreed to the demand and said the building would be ready in two years.

The next demand pertained to upgrading the Belgaum airport. The airport has a short runway and can handle only small aircraft. To expand the airport, the Government has to acquire around 500 acres of land and request the Union Civil Aviation Ministry to undertake the work.

A full-fledged airport will give a fillip to horticultural exports from several districts of North Karnataka. Presently, farmers in the region are cheated by middlemen and exporters who purchase their produce at a low price. With minimal value addition, like better packaging, they re-sell the produce at a profit.

Other demands

The other demands of the people of the region included the completion of construction of a building for the High Court Bench at Dharwad, a market of international standards for horticultural and floricultural produce, the establishment of a Border Areas Development Authority and a Special Economic Zone in the vicinity of Belgaum. In addition, they also demanded the setting up of Kannada-medium schools in every village on the border, upgrading of the Belgaum-Goa highway and a law university in Dharwad.

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