Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Thursday launched or announced a series of housing, mobility, public service and welfare initiatives at an event marking 100 days of the state government’s current administration in Bengaluru.
The programmes were unveiled at the Vidhana Soudha banquet hall during the ‘Drudha Karnataka Sankalpa: Shataka Patha, Pragatiya Ratha’ event. Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara said the government had introduced several public-oriented programmes in its first 100 days, while also highlighting the state’s response to drought conditions.
Among the announcements was a plan to distribute five lakh residential sites to families without land in rural areas. The government said each district would receive at least 50,000 sites under the initiative. Orders related to the site-distribution programme and the Sainik Samman scheme were signed at the event and handed over to Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh and Additional Chief Secretary of the Revenue Department Rajendra Kumar Kataria.
The event also marked the launch of the Chief Minister Raitha Chaitanya scheme, which is aimed at farmers, as well as initiatives involving Seva One, a corporate social responsibility portal for schools, free bus passes for school and college students, the BMTC 2.0 application and the One Karnataka Mobility app Avatar 2.0. A scheme for installing pollution-control devices was also launched, according to the report.
Parameshwara said the government had declared 101 taluks as drought-affected in accordance with central guidelines. He said more than 100 additional taluks were being assessed and could also be declared drought-affected. The government would seek drought relief from the Centre, he said. He also referred to shortages of drinking water and fodder, along with migration caused by a lack of employment.
The announcements were made alongside a public event featuring beneficiaries of the state’s guarantee programmes, farmers, students and pourakarmikas. Beneficiaries were invited to participate in the ceremonial lighting of the lamp. Women who had started self-employment activities using Gruha Lakshmi payments brought food products they had prepared to the event.
The event also included the launch of a programme connected with the Bharat Jodo campaign. Parameshwara said Shivakumar had decided to establish Bharat Jodo associations to preserve the public memory of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.
The government described the programme as a demonstration of its development agenda rather than merely a celebration of its first 100 days. Shivakumar interacted with beneficiaries, visited a café and an information centre set up near the venue, and met members of his cabinet and legislators. The next steps for the newly announced schemes will depend on the implementation orders and administrative processes issued by the concerned departments.
