Abhijith N Kolpe
Pics: Spoorthy Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Mangaluru, Jan 26: Speaking after unfurling the national flag and inspecting guard of honour at the district level Republic Day programme organised at Nehru Maidan here on Saturday January 26, Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister, U T Khader, said that poor people, working class, women, and people belonging to deprived sections of the society should be grateful towards and feel proud of the Indian Constitution that has raised their standards of living and given them equal rights. "This is the day on which our Constitution was adopted, and dreams of Indians turned into reality and their lives got value and recognition," he stated.
The minister was all in praise for the father of Indian Constitution, Dr B R Ambedkar, who framed the constitution along with other scholars of the country and made the country a republic. "The first ever meeting of the Constitution drafting committee was held on December 9, 1946. The committee took 35 months to complete the framing of the constitution after holding lots of discussions and making about 2,000 ammendments. The Constitution was adopted on January 26, 1950," he said.
He said that in tune with the government's efforts to empower poor people, the state government had launched 'Badavara Bandhu' scheme for helping the street vendors to come out of the vicious clutches of money lenders. This scheme has come into force within the city limits here," he added. "We are building 221 foot bridges for the convenience of school children at a cost of Rs 30 crore. Out of them, 80 foot bridges are being constructed in the first phase, for which tenders have been floated," he explained.
The minister stated that under the government's 'Ksheeera Bhagya' scheme, 1,01,579 children have benefitted and an amount of Rs 394.97 lac has been spent. He also informed that under 'Bhagyalaxmi' scheme of the government, Rs 247.22 lav was paid towards insurance premium of 1,284 beneficiaries. He also pointed out that the government has increased the reservation quota for the specialy abled from three to five percent.
"Under 'Arogya Karnataka' scheme, Rs 927.07 lac has been paid towards 1,902 beneficiaries. Under 'Arogya Bharat' scheme, 920 beneficiaries were covered to the extent of Rs 381.5 lac," he explained.
Khader recalled that the recent river estival conducted on the bank of Falguni river at Tannior Bavi, Kulur and Bengre was highly successful. He said that similar festivals will be held in the coming years too.
The minister stated that 1,05,135 applications for regularisation of land under rule 94 c were received, out of which 44,904 have been disposed off and title deeds distributed. Under 94cc, 38,282 applications were received, and title deeds were issued in 18,612 cases, he stated.
13 teams and two police band troupes took part in the parade. It was commanded by Vittal Shinde. On the occasion, government officials, Sundar Poojary, Mahesh Kumar, Prakash Shetty, K N Sudhakar, Harini P and Babu Nayak were presented the 'Sarvothama Seva' awards for distinguished service.
Additional deputy commissioner, Dr Kumar, was felicitated for getting the state award for being the best additional district election officer.
Officials who sincerely got involved with helping and rescuing Jodupala tragedy victims, Abdul Gafoor (home guard), Ganesh (reserve police), Manjunath (police sub-inspector), T H Shivashankar (fire service) and M T Pradeep (coast guard) were honoured for their selfless service.
Following lthe programme, cultural programme was presented by Amrutha Vidyalaya, Canara School Urwa, and Sharada Vidyalaya.
Silver medals were presented to the following KSRTC drivers for safe, accident-free driving.
1. Sathish 2. Chandrashekhar. 3. Ganapatjhi. 4.Eshwar. 5. Duggappa Naik. 6. Ganesh Shetty.
In the prize meant for parade units, Bharat Seva Dal stood first. RSP girls bagged the second place.
Dakshina Kannada district deputy commissioner, Sasikanth Senthil, city police commissioner, T R Suresh, inspector general of police, Arun Chakraarthy, MLA, Vedavyasa Kamath, MLC, Ivan D'Souza, and others were present.