1992: 12th Place, 2010: 2nd Place Karnataka Marches ahead in Development!

Udupi, Nov 1: Accepting the challenge by the union law minister M Veerappa Moily to have a survey/review to bring out the truth of actual funds spent by the state government for the grants released by the central government towards union government sponsored programme, the Higher Education minister Dr V S Acharya on Monday November 1 said that the state government was ready for such a survey.

Replying to the criticism made by Moily on Saturday October 30 at Nitte that the second position given to Karnataka was not really a “Certificate” for the achievements in the developmental activities but only for spending the central grants whereas it's actul utilization will be known only when a survey will be conducted, Dr Acharya asserted that the state which was in 12th position in 1992 had today attained the second position in the entire country after Gujarat state in the successful implementation of 20 point programme of poverty alleviation.

“A small portion of grant had been given by the centre, while the state government has on its own had launched several innovative programmes. On the other hand, he said that the centre was yet to release grants under Rural Development (RD) programme. He said that for the first time in the country, the BJP government in the state had this year made available a whopping allocation of Rs 10,503 crore in the education sector. It had also attained the first position in terms of plan expenditure through mobilization of resources without taxing which was at 11 percent of GPDP.

He also stressed the need that besides, awareness about new aspects like financial literacy, computer literacy, web literacy, legal literacy and energy literacy, we need to have cultural and religious literacy to know about the cultural growth of Karnataka.

Referring to power situation, he said that Udupi Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) near Padubidri in the district, in its first stage of production had already producing 600 MW power. In the second stage, expected to be commenced by the end of December this year, an additional 600 MW would be added. Out of the total power produced by the UPCL, 10 percent production would be passed on to the national grid and remaining would be supplied to the MESCOM covering four revenue districts.

He said that there was an estimated loss of Rs 28 lakh due to the torrential rains that hit the district during the three days from October 21 to 23 which had severely damaged all major roads and National Highway. The district administration had already received Rs. 8 crore to take up the repair works. He said he had also specially asked the National Highway Authorities to take up the repair works at the earliest along with the ongoing work of construction of new bridges and culverts on the four lane project between Suratkal and Kundapur. Funds had also been released for the Rs 45 crore widening of Padubidri-Karkala (from 7.5 mt to 15.5 mt).

The revenue department had also given its approval for widening work between Kalsanka and Kallianpur
road, he added. The minister said that the work on the Rs 27 crore district administration complex at Manipal under the completion stage and planned to inaugurate by the end of December. In all Rs 22 crore had already been released, he said and added that a proposal is also before the government for the
construction of Circuit House in Udupi and Mangalore at the cost of Rs 3 crore.

Acharya stresses need for industrial growth

Home Minister V.S. Acharya said on Saturday that more importance should be given to the tertiary sector in the district. He was speaking after releasing the Udupi District Human Development Report, 2008 here.Dr. Acharya said that the economy of the district could no longer depend on the “money orders” sent by people who had migrated to other places. It was necessary to promote sectors other than agriculture. Industrial development should be promoted taking into account environmental concerns, he said.

Deputy Commissioner P. Hemalatha said that according to the report, Udupi taluk was ahead in income, education and general development sectors, followed by Kundapur and Karkala taluks. But in the health sector, Karkala was in the forefront, followed by Kundapur and Udupi. This was surprising because there were more hospitals in Udupi taluk than in the two other two taluks, she said. Although the district as a whole was in a good position in reproductive care and child health, it had to do a lot in preventing communicable and non-communicable diseases. The infant mortality rate in the district was comparable to the rate in western countries, Ms. Hemalatha said.

AREA OF CONCERN: The district was in the yellow zone with regard to HIV/AIDS. The rate of suicide in the district was comparable to the situation in Kerala, which had the highest rate in the country. This warranted action towards improving mental health and preventing suicides.The district was in the sixth place in the State in per capita income, but it was in the 17th place when it came to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The district's growth rate was only 4 per cent compared to 7 per cent for the State.Though the contribution of agriculture to the GDP of the district had declined from 31 per cent to 21 per cent, the number of people depending on agriculture remained the same. Importance should be given to cash crops.It was necessary to give importance to high schools, ITIs and job-oriented courses in the district, which had a highly skilled manpower, Ms. Hemalatha said.MLAs Raghupati Bhat and Lalaji Mendon and president of the zilla panchayat Gladys Almeida were present. (The Hindu)

27.03.2010: News Update

KSRTC launches AirConditioned Bus service between Manipal & Mangalore

On this occasion, Dr. Acharya said the Yeddyurappa government was committed to the welfare of the people and the KSRTC air-conditioned service between Mangalore and Manipal was one of the steps. (More photos @ Mangalorean)

Acharya releases Human Development report - calls for private, public investment

Udupi March 27, 2010: Karnataka Home Minister V S Acharya today stressed the need for investment, both private and public in the area of infrastructure development for economic growth of Udupi district. Speaking after releasing Udupi District Human Development Report-2008 and presiding over the District-level presentation workshop, organized by Udupi Zilla Panchayat here, Dr Acharya said though the district had shown progress in the social sector even equalling with China, its performance in economic sector was still disturbing.

''There is an urgent need to focus attention on our strength, weakness of the district and opportunities available,'' he said. He said Udupi District Human Development report had percolated to Gram Panchayat level and categorized these as per UNDP norms. Lot of data and information had been generated through exhaustive surveys.''Gram Panchayats are the implementation sites of all our developmental activities and if we can prepare Human Development Report at this level it would add to the overall efficiency of the project implementation and lead to meaningful results,'' he said. As agriculture in the district had already shown negative growth, there was need to pay attention on other sectors to make headway in the economic sector, he said. (Full report/Photos @ Mangalorean)

Polytechnics breed skills- Dr. Acharya

Manipal March 27: In the world of academics development of skills was more important than anything else, skills will help the young generation to eke out a livelihood this is where the Polytechnics come into the picture, and Brahma of Manipal Dr. TMA Pai had understood this aspect fifty years back and set up a polytechnic in Manipal which has today become one of the top polytechnics in the country said home minister or Karnataka Dr. V.S. Acharya. He was inaugurating the new building of the Dr.T.M.A Pai polytechnic here today.Dr. Acharya said service industries has picked up and is moving in steady fast direction. Students should be given formal training with all necessary skills that are demanded by the service industries", he added.

He said the vision is to be one of the renowned technical educations provided that meets ever changing needs of industry. Industry is vibrant. Attention is paid for the best possible development of the individual student, he said. (Full report @ Mangalorean)