Minister reaffirms Congress commitment to ensuring social justice
He was speaking at an event at the Poojya Basavarajappa Appa Memorial Hall where multiple civic initiatives were launched for the city's development and citizen welfare.
At the event, the Minister symbolically distributed direct appointment orders to 935 civic workers, ending the contract labour system and making them permanent employees of the Kalaburagi City Corporation.
Letters of appointment were also issued to newly recruited village administrative officers, while laptops were handed over to those concerned to assist them in digital governance at the village level — a first-of-its-kind initiative in the State.
He also distributed sewing machines and motorised tricycles to persons with disabilities.
'This is a proud and happy moment. As promised, we are appointing you all directly as municipal employees. This has been made possible because of the Congress ideology and commitment,' Mr. Kharge said praising the civic workers for their crucial role in keeping the city clean despite many challenges.
Mr. Kharge further announced that if a site is allotted by the City Corporation for housing, the State government will provide necessary funding for the construction of houses for civic workers and urged local MLAs and MPs to contribute funds for the purpose.
'A Kalaburagi city master plan has been prepared for the next 25 years in collaboration with the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS). This plan has been drafted after consulting various civic organisations and stakeholders. Although the Union government denied Kalaburagi Smart City status, the State government is working to transform it into a well-planned and inclusive urban space within the next three years. As part of this blueprint, 23 major traffic circles will be redeveloped, 31 public parks upgraded and four lakes restored,' Mr. Kharge said.
Mr. Kharge also announced the establishment of Nagavi Institute of Competitive Exams (NICE)training centre at Vajpayee Layout. It is scheduled to open in the last week of July, initially offering free coaching to 500 aspirants preparing for IAS, KAS and other competitive exams, with plans to expand to 2,000 students in the future, he added.
Taking aim at BJP leaders, Mr. Kharge said that they came to Kalaburagi just to criticise him, not to talk about development. 'Instead of engaging in constructive dialogue, they resort to personal attacks,' he claimed.
MLC Tippannappa Kamakanur urged the Minister to allocate funds for the construction of housing for civic workers and also requested Lok Sabha member Radhakrishna Doddamani to raise the issue of including Kabbaliga community in the Scheduled Tribes list in Parliament.
Kalaburagi Mayor Yallappa Naikodi, Mr. Doddamani, MLAs Allamprabhu Patil, Kaneez Fathima, KUDA chairman Mazhar Alam Khan, Deputy Commissioner Fauzia Tarannum, Zilla Panchayat CEO Bhanwar Singh Meena and Municipal Commissioner Avinash Shinde and others were present.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Gazette
11 minutes ago
- India Gazette
"They want to change the Constitution": Priyank Kharge slams RSS over call to drop 'socialism', 'secularism'
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 1 (ANI): Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Tuesday slammed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) over their General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale's statement demanding reconsideration of the terms 'socialist' and 'secular' in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. Alleging that the RSS wants to 'alter' the Indian Constitution, Kharge said that these are the same people who 'staged a protest when the constituent assembly debates were going on and burned the constitution.' Responding to recent remarks made by Hosabale, the Karnataka Minister said, 'Very clearly, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in his last speech has defined anti-nationals as those who create animosity by bringing in caste, and those people who are going to impede the social, political and economic progress of the country are the real anti-national. Those people who sow the seeds of communal hatred in society are anti-national. So who's doing that right now?...' 'They want to change the words of the Constitution. They want to change the constitution. This is the narrative they want to bring in... RSS has never been for the constitution. These are the same bunch of people who staged a protest when the constituent assembly debates were going on. They burned the constitution and said that we want the Manusmriti as our constitution. Didn't they say that? Please ask them to read their magazine, the Organiser's archives, what they have written on the 26th of January 1950... The answer lies there itself...' he added. On being asked if Congress is thinking of banning the RSS, Kharge said, 'We will see. It's not the first time they have been banned, right? Didn't Sardar Patel ban them? Then they went and fell at his feet. They pleaded no, no, we will follow the law of the land. After that, Indira Gandhiji banned it again. They went and said No, we will cooperate. We will abide by the laws of the land. There cannot be one law of the land for the rest of the country and for one organisation like this...' Earlier on Thursday, addressing a program on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale remarked that during the Emergency, terms like 'Socialism' and 'Secularism' were forcibly inserted into the Constitution, a move that needs to be reconsidered today. He emphasised that the Emergency wasn't just a misuse of power, but an attempt to crush civil liberties. Millions were imprisoned, and freedom of the press was suppressed. He said that those who imposed the Emergency and trampled the Constitution and democracy have never apologised. If they cannot apologise personally, they should do so on behalf of their ancestors. Hosabale was speaking at an event held at Dr Ambedkar International Centre, jointly organised by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (under the Ministry of Culture) and Ambedkar International Centre. (ANI)
India Gazette
14 minutes ago
- India Gazette
"Not going to happen at all" Congress's Venugopal slams RSS over call to drop 'socialism', 'secularism'
Kannur [Kerala] (India) July 1 (ANI): Congress National General Secretary KC Venugopal has strongly criticised the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) demand to amend the Constitution, particularly with regard to the words 'Secular and Socialist' stating that the country would not tolerate any attempt to tamper with these fundamental principles. 'Let them say whatever they want to say. But we would like to make it crystal clear that any attempt at change in the Constitution, and any tampering with the words 'Secular and Socialist', will not be tolerated by this nation. They can wish anything, but this is not going to happen at all...' Venugopal said on Tuesday while speaking with reporters here. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale's had recently demanded reconsideration of the terms 'socialist' and 'secular' in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. Earlier, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge alleged that the RSS wants to 'alter' the Indian Constitution. Kharge said that these are the same people who 'staged a protest when the constituent assembly debates were going on and had burned the Constitution.' Responding to Hosabale's recent remarks, the Karnataka Minister said, 'Very clearly, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in his last speech has defined anti-nationals as those who create animosity by bringing in caste, and those people who are going to impede the social, political and economic progress of the country are the real anti-national. Those people who sow the seeds of communal hatred in society are anti-national. So who's doing that right now?...' 'They want to change the words of the Constitution. They want to change the Constitution. This is the narrative they want to bring in... RSS has never been for the Constitution. These are the same bunch of people who staged a protest when the constituent assembly debates were going on. They burned the constitution and said that we want the Manusmriti as our constitution. Didn't they say that? Please ask them to read their magazine, the Organiser's archives, what they have written on the 26th of January 1950... The answer lies there itself...' he said. On being asked if Congress is thinking of banning the RSS, Kharge said, 'We will see. It's not the first time they have been banned, right? Didn't Sardar Patel ban them? Then they went and fell at his feet. They pleaded no, no, we will follow the law of the land. After that, Indira Gandhiji banned it again. They went and said No, we will cooperate. We will abide by the laws of the land. There cannot be one law of the land for the rest of the country and for one organisation like this...' On June 26, addressing a program on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, RSS General Secretary Hosabale said that during the Emergency, terms like 'Socialism' and 'Secularism' were forcibly inserted into the Constitution, a move that needs to be reconsidered today. He emphasised that the Emergency wasn't just a misuse of power, but an attempt to crush civil liberties. Millions were imprisoned, and freedom of the press was suppressed. He said that those who imposed the Emergency and trampled the Constitution and democracy have never apologised. If they cannot apologise personally, they should do so on behalf of their ancestors. Hosabale was speaking at an event held at Dr Ambedkar International Centre, jointly organised by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (under the Ministry of Culture) and Ambedkar International Centre. (ANI)
India Gazette
16 minutes ago
- India Gazette
Surjewala's talks with MLAs are limited to party organisation, not about leadership change: Karnataka Dy CM Shivakumar clarifies
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 1 (ANI): Amid mounting speculations of possible change in state leadership, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday clarified that the dicussions held during the recently concluded meeting of Congress General Secretary Randeep Surjewala with party MLAs were not about cabinet reshuffle, but instead it was concerned with organisational aspects of the party. 'AICC general secretaries are meeting to discuss party organisation issues and accept requests from MLAs, but there is no discussion about changing the CM or expanding the cabinet,' Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, said. While responding to media queries at the KPCC office, Shivakumar said that the meeting was held in context of the organisation of the party since its chief Mallikarjun Kharge has declared this year as the year of organisation. He said that Congress was concerned with giving responsibility to district and block presidents to keep organised. 'No one should worry about this meeting. We are changing district and block Congress presidents across the country, and this meeting is being held in the context of the organisation. AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge has declared this year 'the year of organisation'. Therefore, he has asked the district Congress presidents to fill their energy. Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and the general secretary have called all the district Congress presidents, and a meeting has been held in New Delhi. In this way, all the responsibilities have been given from the construction of the Congress office to the organisation of the party. In Bengaluru, the responsibility of the constituencies where there are no MLAs has been given to each MLA,' Surjewala added. 'Randeep Singh Surjewala has come to provide guidance on organisation, and his suggestions are being accepted. He is trying to bring discipline in the party amidst the statements of some MLAs. Apart from this, there is no discussion about leadership change or cabinet expansion. None of us is in a hurry now. 2028 is very important to us. That is what is important,' he clarified. As Congress MLA Ramanagara MLA Iqbal Hussain openly backs DK Shivkumar for the Chief Minister post, the Deputy CM expressed disappointment over MLAs speaking before the media and asked them to extend support to Siddaramaiah. 'I will give him a notice myself. No one needs to say that I will become the CM. No one can speak in front of the media. No one should speak in front of the media on this issue, be it Iqbal Hussain, BR Patil, or Balakrishna. Siddaramaiah is the Chief Minister; we should all strengthen his hand,' he said. Speaking on the allegations of lack of funds for development works and that of corruption by party MLAs, including Raju Kage and BR Patil, Shivakumar said that the Karnataka government has allocated grants of Rs 1 lakh crore in the budget for the same. 'The state government has allocated a Rs 1 lakh crore grant in the budget for development works. Rs 54,000 crore is being spent on the guarantee scheme. Rs 19,000 crore is being spent on providing electricity to farmers. Priority has been given to other development schemes, including social welfare schemes. Isn't this for the development of the people and the sector? The welfare schemes being implemented in our state are not being implemented in any other state.' (ANI)
