Will do away with traditional form of governance, says HDK

Will do away with traditional form of governance, says HDK

Bengaluru: From direct involvement of citizens and technical experts in governance, to generating employment for 10 lakh unemployed rural youth and women, JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy spelled out some of his ideas for a better Karnataka, if his party is voted to power in the upcoming Assembly elections.

Kumaraswamy on Monday participated in a near three hour interaction on his ‘Kanasina Karnataka’ with experts from various fields and readers of Prajavani, as part of the ‘Prajamatha 2018’ interaction ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls.

Stressing on the fact that his government would not function on advice of bureaucrats alone, Kumaraswamy said that he would reserve Cabinet berths of three “sensitive” portfolios — education, health and housing — to subject experts from that field.

For example, a medical professional would be assigned the health portfolio, he said. Not only would he invite farmers to the Vidhana Soudha once every two months to address their grievances, he said that he would also frequently extend an invitation to experts to come and share their views and opinions.

The former chief minister said that this was the only way to realise the preamble of the Indian Constitution, where the citizen would be fully part of the democratic process.

He said that there needs to be systemic changes in areas of governance and policy, and that he wanted to do away with the traditional form of governance.

Speaking on his vision for Karnataka in various sectors, Kumaraswamy reiterated that he was committed on waiving crop loans.

From disbursing a monthly honorarium of Rs 5,000 to senior citizens and a monthly honorarium of Rs 6,000 for pregnant and lactating mothers; to keeping Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi open for 365 days, Kumaraswamy also said that his government would lay more thrust on upgrading government schools.

Experts including M S Sriram, visiting faculty, Centre for Public Policy, IIMB; S Sampathraman, president, FKCCI; V Ravichander, urban infrastructure expert; actor Prakash Belavadi; S V Manjunath, head of Azim Premji Foundation’s Karnataka State Institute; architect Naresh V Narasimhan, literary critic M S Asha Devi and journalist Meera K participated in the interaction.

‘Elevated Metro for MG Road was a mistake’

Kumaraswamy regretted his decision of having approved an elevated line for Namma Metro on M G Road, when he served as chief minister in 2006-7. Acknowledging the fact that the said line marred the beauty of the iconic road, he said that he had made the decision in haste – upon insistence of his officials. He said that Bengaluru too should have had tunneled lines like other global cities.

He said that he had no administrative experience when he was elected as chief minister. But, in the last 10 years, he had gained enough practical knowledge not to repeat the same mistakes.

He said that he was confident of ascending to power, but was not sure if he would stay in power, because he was committed to take some “tough” decisions. He said that there was need for a separate Act for Bengaluru for governance and administration.