From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Dec 18: Going all out to woo the women, who constitute more than half the State’s population, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday inaugurated a Womens’ Industrial Park in Kalaburagi and promised to set up five more such parks across the State to encourage women entrepreneurs and also to announce a separate policy to encourage women entrepreneurs.

The womens’ industrial parks will be exclusively reserved for women entrepreneurs, the Chief Minister said.

“This is a dream come true for me,’’ the Chief Minister said and pointed out that the State Chief Secretary K. Ratna Prabha, the first from the Dalit community to occupy the top-most in the State’s bureaucracy and the third among women, had initiated this process when she was Additional Chief Secretary and helped formulate a separate policy for women industrialists.

Today, this Mahila Park will go a long way in instilling confidence among women. This is a new chapter and a new beginning, he added.

Separate industrial parks are being planned within KIADB Industrial areas at Harohalli in Ramanagaram district, Mysuru, Ballari’s Kudithini, Mangaluru and another in Hubbali’s rural area, he said.

Siddaramaiah said the women running these units would get a lot of amenities.

The Chief Minister said a Rs 7.31 crore tender was being called to provide various amenities that included business exhibition centre, training centres, development centres and other such support infrastructure that will increase the self-reliance of women entrepreneurs. 

All the six Mahila parks would be up and running by March next year, he announced.

Chief Secretary Ratna Prabha was also present at the inauguration along with Medical Education Minister and Kalaburgi district in-charge minister Sharanaprakash Patil and IT and Tourism Minister and Yadgir district in-charge minister Priyank M Kharge.

Later in the day in Yadgir district, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah spoke at a workers’ meeting in Shahapur and inaugurated projects and also laid the foundation stones for many more projects in Surpur and Gurmitkal and emphasised that development was a continuous process.

He impressed upon the well-attended gathering on the development works undertaken by his government. 

The Chief Minister reiterated that his government stood for development. Farmers and irrigation projects were the focus of the Congress government, he said adding: ``"In this district alone, we spent Rs 1,033 for irrigation which is the lifeline of people.’’

The Chief Minister, who is on a state-wide tour, is proceeding to Ballari district tomorrow. He will inaugurate as well as lay foundation stones for a slew of development works in three different Assembly constituencies of Hagaribommanahalli, Hoovina Hadagali and Sandur.