Mysuru Dasara will be managed under a new ministerial oversight arrangement, with 22 ministers assigned responsibility across the festival’s 11 days, District In-charge Minister Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah said on Monday.
The arrangement will see two ministers oversee Dasara-related responsibilities each day. Siddaramaiah said the system had been introduced to ensure that the festival’s programmes are conducted in a more orderly manner, following the Chief Minister’s concept for the 11-day celebration.
“There is no question of anyone being above or below anyone else. The programmes will be conducted smoothly,” Siddaramaiah told the media in Mysuru. His remarks indicate that the ministerial deployment is intended to strengthen coordination during the festival rather than replace the existing administrative structure.
Responding to a question on whether the arrangement represented a setback for the district in-charge minister, Siddaramaiah said he remained in charge of all the committees. He said the expanded oversight mechanism did not amount to a setback for him.
The announcement places ministerial coordination at the centre of the administration of one of Mysuru’s largest public events. The source report did not provide details of the individual ministers assigned to each day, the specific committees involved, or the operational responsibilities that will be divided among them.
Siddaramaiah also addressed questions about the financial burden of the state government’s guarantee schemes. He acknowledged that the schemes were creating a financial burden but said the government could not withdraw from them on that account because it had made commitments to the public. Managing the schemes despite the financial pressure was the government’s responsibility, he said.
The minister also spoke about alleged irregularities involving 50:50 ratio sites issued by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority, or MUDA. He said a list of irregularly allotted sites would be released soon. According to Siddaramaiah, BJP MLA Srivatsa had submitted a representation on the issue and the list was being prepared.
Siddaramaiah said all sites had already been cancelled in accordance with the Desai Commission report and that each site had been investigated before the report was submitted. He therefore said there was no need for another review of the same sites. The list to be published, he said, would be based on the irregular-site list submitted by the MLA.
He added that the government would examine whether buyers could face problems if sites allegedly obtained through irregular means had subsequently been sold to other people. The minister did not provide a date for releasing the list or details of the process that would follow its publication.
The immediate next steps are the finalisation of the 22-minister oversight arrangement for the Dasara days and the release of the list of sites described by the minister as irregular.
