Gulbarga: The State Government is committed to implement the D.M. Nanjundappa Committee Report on amelioration of regional imbalance. It will implement a time-bound programme to develop 35 taluks considered the most backward in the State by the committee, Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa said here on Thursday.

A committee comprising State Planning Board vice-chairman A. Ravindra and other senior officials would visit some of these most backward taluks to study the real problems and implement measures to solve them, he said.

Mr Yediyurappa said he would launch the programme by visiting Jewargi, which was considered the least backward by the Nanjundappa Committee. The whole process would be completed in 30 months and the most backward taluks would be placed on a par with the most forward taluks of the State.

Minor irrigation

The Deputy Chief Minister said the Government was placing lot of importance on minor irrigation. In the last four years, the total budgetary support to the department was Rs. 160 crore. "We increased it to Rs. 600 crore this year alone. Nearly Rs. 290 crore has been spent till now," he said.

According to him, there were 36,000 minor irrigation tanks in 26,000 villages in the State. These had the potential to irrigate 17 lakh hectares of land. Only five lakh hectares were being irrigated. "We will strive at increasing this area. At least 20 per cent of the tanks have been encroached. We have asked deputy commissioners to acquire them mercilessly," he said.

Revenue up

According to him, the revenue collection had increased by 30 per cent this year. "We have collected Rs. 16,958 crore this year against Rs. 12,988 crore last year from commercial taxes, motor vehicle taxes, stamp duty, registration and land revenue," he said.

Additional grants of Rs. 2,330 crore had been sanctioned. Of this, Rs. 375 crore would be spent on Public Works Department road and Rs. 100 crore for rural roads and Rs. 160

crore for minor irrigation, he said.

The Government had sanctioned Rs. 10 crore for the Gulbarga airport, Rs. 15 crore for the Belgaum airport upgradation and Rs. 20 crore for the one at Hubli.

Mr. Yediyurappa said the Government had increased the allocation to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under the Ganga Kalyan irrigation scheme to Rs. 1 lakh from Rs.

70,000. The Government had released Rs. 325 crore for the 130 residential schools. Of this, Rs. 125 crore had been released. Deputy commissioners had been instructed to take up construction of school buildings wherever land was available, he said.

He said the Government was committed to implement the ban on arrack. He refuted allegations made by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president M. Mallikarjun Kharge that the funds allocated in the budget had not been spent.

"We have spent around 48 per cent of the allocated money till now. We are hopeful of spending at least 90 per cent of the allocation by March," he said.

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