The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Hegde award presented to Joseph Aralappa

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 29, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Hegde award presented to Joseph Aralappa

Staff Reporter

Somashekar decries bid to roll back decentralisation

Award instituted in memory of the late Ramakrishna Hegde
His role in ushering in panchayati raj in State recalled

Bangalore: The Government should stop tinkering with the tested methods and priorities of the panchayati raj system and give up its attempts to roll back the decentralisation of power. It should instead follow the methods successfully adopted by the Ramakrishna Hegde Government, State Janata Dal (United) president B. Somashekar has said.

He was speaking here on Tuesday after presenting the first Ramakrishna Hegde Award to Joseph Aralappa of Siluvepura in Bangalore North taluk in recognition of his efforts to provide drinking water to Schedule Caste settlements at Kalathammnahalli in Kasaghattapura.

The award, named after the late Ramakrishna Hegde, former Chief Minister, has been instituted by a group of political thinkers and volunteers who were with Hegde during his last days and are part of the forum Karnataka Rajya Rajakiya Chintakara Vedike.

Mr. Somashekar said the efforts to transfer responsibilities from rural representatives to MLAs did not augur well for the panchayati raj system.

Notable achievements

The achievements of the late Hegde and his associates such as the late Nasir Sab who stood by him in the effective implementation of panchayati raj and rural development programmes were indelible.

Programmes such as Janata Darshan and pension for widows were launched by the Hegde Government, he said.

The former chairman of the Sports Authority of Karnataka B.S. Raghavan suggested renaming Sri Kanteerava Indoor Stadium after Ramakrishna Hegde, as he had played an instrumental role in the development of the stadium.

Hegde Chair

Vedike president K.S. Nagaraja said that though the S.M. Krishna Government had announced that it would establish a Chair in the name of Hegde in one of the universities in the State in recognition of his contribution to the panchayati raj system, the chair was yet to be established.

Mr. Aralappa, thanking the vedike for the award, said that political commitment to the cause of decentralisation had been diluted over the years. He said presidents of the zilla, taluk and gram panchayats should be directly elected by the people.

The former Minister V.S. Krishna Iyer and theatre person Prasanna spoke.

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