Karnataka cabinet sanctions Rs 3,400 crore for development works

Chikkaballapur (Karnataka) [India], July 2 (ANI): Karnataka cabinet on Wednesday sanctioned funds worth Rs 3,400 crore for the development works being carried out in the state.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stated that this was a pressing response to the charges levelled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been alleging a "lack of funds" in the state government.
The cabinet held discussions concerning a total of 48 issues and said that the Karnataka government will continue to have such meetings in each revenue division of the state.
Apprising reporters about the revised amount for the Yettinahole project, Siddaramaiah stated that the project, which would cost Rs 23,251 crore, is essentially a drinking water project for which the state government has spent Rs 17,147 crore to date.
The Yettinahole project, which aims to mitigate the issue of drinking water in drought-prone areas, including Chikkaballapur and Kolar districts, will fill 50 per cent of the lakes, the CM said.
"We have discussed 48 issues. Rs 3,400 crores is the amount that was discussed and sanctioned today. BJP repeatedly claims that this government has no money. I am pressing it...The total revised amount for the Yettinahole project is Rs 23,251 crore. The amount spent so far is Rs 17,147 crore, and an additional Rs 6,103 crore will be spent. This is basically a drinking water project, but we will fill 50 per cent of the lakes...First, the drinking water project should be completed. We are working on drinking water projects in Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Ben Rural, and Hassan. After completing the drinking water project in the next 2 years, we will provide water to all those districts. The gravity Main Canal is also 82-85 per cent complete. Rs 9,807 crores have been spent," Siddaramaiah said.
The Labour Department has decided to open a residential school for the children of workers in each district. "Rs 1,175.25 crores have been sanctioned for its construction, wherever there is a large number of workers (are residing)," the cabinet decided.
The Karnataka CM stated that the state government has allocated Rs 10 crore for the construction of two residential schools to train students from underprivileged communities for competitive examinations, including the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
"We have declared the Bangalore Rural District as Bangalore North. We have changed Bagepalli to Bhagyanagar," Siddaramaiah said.
He informed that the Bengaluru City University would be named after the late Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. "We have named it Dr. Manmohan Singh University," Siddaramaiah said.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that the government has decided to conduct a special investigation into the allegations of irregularities in mining activities.
"We have decided that the state cabinet should conduct a special investigation into the mining irregularities and submit a report within a month. HK Patil found some shortcomings. We have formed a cabinet sub-committee under the leadership of the Law Minister to protect our state wealth. Bengaluru was the only one with a high-tech flower market. We have given it to the Chikkaballapur district for construction at a cost of Rs 141 crore for a flower market," Shivakumar said. (ANI)