Bengaluru: Taking a dig at Central government projects like Swachh Bharat and Smart City, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the Union government was taking credit for the work done by state governments.
Launching ‘Nagarotthanna phase III' here on Thursday, Mr Siddaramaiah said the state governments pay 50% of the funds for the Smart City projects and also provides land. The Centre however takes credit for it, he said.
Besides, there was nothing new the Swachh Bharat programme. Earlier, during the tenure of the Congress led UPA government, it was known as Nirmal Bharath scheme and all that the present government did was to change the name, he said.
For the IIIrd phase of the Nagarotthanna project, the state government has earmarked Rs 2847 crore, where the focus would be on making the state open defecation free at the local body level. The practice of open defecation had prevailed in the country for a long time and to avoid epidemics caused because of this, it was necessary to provide toilets for people, Mr Siddaramaiah said.
By next October, the local bodies should be free of open defecation. If the projects to get rid of this practice are delayed for any reason, the cost would escalate, he said.
Municipal Administration minister Mr Eshwar Khandre said that the government was enacting new laws to curb land encroachment in municipalities. In most of the municipalities, private layouts are encroaching upon government land.
The state government intends to establish municipal courts to deal with such illegal encroachments and ensure that government land does not fall into the hands of private land sharks, the minister added.
