Karnataka   

Interactive meets with farm outfits, industries to be held

BANGALORE: To address farmers’ problems and infrastructure bottlenecks in the districts, the State Government has decided to hold interactive meetings with representatives of farmers’ organisations and industries.

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, who delivered the inaugural address at a seminar on “Institutional Structure of Social Science Research” at the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore, on Sunday said that more meetings would be organised with experts and representatives of farm bodies and industrial organisations in the districts.

The seminar has been organised to mark the birth centenary celebration of ISEC’s founder and former Union Minister V.K.R.V. Rao.

Mr. Yeddyurappa said: “I have initiated dialogue with development thinkers. Such workshops have already been held in Bangalore, Hubli-Dharwad and Gulbarga.” He stressed on the need to have continuous interaction with research institutions and policy-makers at the government level.

A government official told The Hindu that the Chief Minister would hold meetings with representatives of the industry and farm bodies in Belgaum on July 12, and in Mysore on July 13, and follow it up with meetings in Bellary, Davangere and Mangalore. The meetings would help the Government find solutions to local problems. They would also help it to prepare plans for development of Tier II cities, the official said.

Committees, comprising officials and others, will be constituted to monitor the progress on decisions taken at meetings, each month. The Chief Minister will review the progress once in three months.

Mr. Yeddyurappa described V.K.R.V. Rao as a visionary, economist, educationist, administrator and institution builder, and announced Rs. 2 crore for digitising ISEC library books and old documents. He released “Footprints of Development and Change”, a book on the vision of V.K.R.V. Rao.

Established in 1973, ISEC contributed significantly to the policy formulation at the State and national levels.

Governor Rameshwar Thakur, who is the president of ISEC Society, inaugurated the seminar and said the Raj Bhavan would hold V.K.R.V. Rao Memorial Lecture every year and also organise a conference on the contributions of the late economist.

Stating that he was closely associated with V.K.R.V. Rao for many years, Mr. Thakur hailed his contribution to teaching social science. He also released “A Passionate Humanitarian V.K.R.V. Rao”, a compilation of essays.

University Grant Commission (UGC) chairman Sukhadeo Thorat said that autonomous institutes such as ISEC should interact more with university students. UGC rejected nearly 600 applications connected with research projects every year because of shortage of funds.

The Centre allocated Rs. 400 crore to the UGC in 2008-09.

S.L. Rao, chairman of the Board of Governors, ISEC, in his welcome address sought more funds from the Government for the institute. ISEC Director N. Jayaram proposed a vote of thanks. R.S. Deshpande, convener, V.K.R.V. Rao Centenary Commemoration Committee, top government officials and experts in various fields attended the inaugural programme.

The seminar will conclude on Tuesday.

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