Mallikarjun Kharge bats for Hyderabad-Karnataka Region, is Siddaramaiah listening?
'It appears that meager allocations have been made for the six districts of Hyderabad-Karnataka'
KALABURAGI: When Mallikarjun Kharge blows hot and hold, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has no option but listen to his one-time rival for the top post. Mr Kharge virtually burst a bombshell on July 20, a day before his 74th birthday writing to the CM questioning the laggard pace of development work especially in the Hyderabad Karnataka Region.
The Congress leader in the Lok Sabha warned Mr Siddaramaiah that it would be very difficult for the party to face the coming zilla panchayat and taluk panchayat polls if this state of affairs continues.
“It appears that meager allocations have been made for the six districts of Hyderabad-Karnataka. This is because of the slow pace of works sanctioned in the budget. Not much allocation has been done in the general budget on the premise that funds allocated for Hyderabad Karataka Region Board (HKRDB) would take care of development work.
“This is wrong. Funds should be allocated for the region in the general budget besides the special allocations made through HKRDB,” Mr Kharge stated.
He expressed his ire over the manner in which review meetings are being held by district in-charge ministers. “Most of the meetings are held for name’s sake and wound up in an hour or two. District in-charge ministers as well as secretaries should seriously review the implementation of work every month and stringent action should be taken against officials failing to meet the target”.
Mr Kharge advised the CM to convene a special meeting to review the progress of works in the HK region.