Belagavi: Coming out strongly against leaders, who want to see North Karnataka break away and form a state of its own, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday denied that his government had neglected it over the last five years and claimed it had received 55 to 65 per cent of the annual budgetary funds of several departments.
Replying to a debate on development of North Karnataka in the Legislative Assembly here, he said the leaders demanding statehood for the region were only doing so to remain politically relevant.
"All those raising a hue and cry about the lack of development in North Karnataka are wrong. It has received as much as Rs 25,815 crore of the irrigation department's total spending of Rs 41,621 crore over the last five years, cornering 60 per cent of its funds. This is true of the spending in other government departments too," he maintained.
The public works department ( PWD) had spent Rs 17, 631 crore on the region, which amounted to 50 to 60 per cent of its total spending over the last five years and 163 of the 234 multi-village drinking water projects of the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department were in this part of the state, he pointed out, calling the allegations made against his government politically motivated
Mr Siddaramaiah revealed his government intended to carve out one or two more districts within Belagavi."There has been a long pending demand to make Chikkodi a district , but we need to discuss this with leaders from Belagavi and arrive at a consensus. But we are committed to the idea," he added.
