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Thursday, Jul 30, 2009
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Government to give impetus to tourism

Special Correspondent

Special task forces to be formed for Mysore and Shimoga regions

Appropriation Bill passed amid ruckus by Opposition in Assembly
A special five-day session of the legislature will be held in September

Bangalore: Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, in his reply to discussions on the State Budget in the Legislative Assembly here on Wednesday, announced a series of people-oriented programmes and a number of schemes to upgrade infrastructure in Bangalore.

These schemes have been announced despite the State facing a tight financial situation following the global meltdown.

The Appropriation Bill was passed on Wednesday amid an unprecedented din with a large section of Opposition legislators wanting to speak on the budget. They staged a demonstration before the Speaker resulting in the Chief Minister being compelled to table his reply, and the Appropriation Bill was passed amid the chaos.

The Government had earlier taken a vote on account for four months till July 31. The discussion on the demands of all departments did not take place in the first 13 days of the 15-day session. The budget was taken up for discussion only on Tuesday. Only six of the 224 legislators spoke on the budget with the last being Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah and this resulted in the ruckus. Mr. Yeddyurappa, who had announced a quantum jump in the budgetary allocation for Bangalore city — Rs. 800 crore for infrastructure development in the jurisdiction of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike and Rs. 500 crore in that of the Bangalore Development Authority — announced more schemes, including several traffic-signal-free roads, widening of several roads and improvement of drinking water supply. “The plan is to develop Bangalore into a model city in the country,” he said.

Task forces

He also announced the formation of two special task forces for the development of tourism spots — one for the Mysore region and another for the Shimoga region. Special emphasis will be given to the development of Kodagu as a major tourist hub. The Government has also decided to freshly screen the BPL cards issued and ensure that only deserving people are given the cards.

Mr. Yeddyurappa announced extending the one-time settlement scheme for loans extended by the Karnataka State Financial Corporation for the benefit of small and medium industries, a special honorarium (Rs. 2,000 a month) for those who fought in the Goa agitation (1955-56), an additional Rs. 10,000 compensation for farm labourers and agriculturists who die of snakebite (Centre also pays Rs. 10,000) and a special scheme to pay compensation to victims of fire accidents.

The Chief Minister announced that a special five-day session of the legislature would be held in September to discuss agriculture and rural development. “Every effort will be made to ensure that the legislature meets at least 60 days a year,” he said.

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