A protest organized by the Kittur Karnataka Sena (KKS) took place in Belagavi on Friday, urging the state government to address various demands of the Kittur Karnataka region to be met in the upcoming budget session.
Kittur Karnataka Sena(KKS) marched from the Channamma Circle, Kannada Sahitya Bhavan to the District Collector’s Office, where they submitted a request to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah through the District Collector.
Hundreds of protestors raised slogans advocating the development of the Kittur Karnataka region during the March. Addressing the occasion, Mahadev Talawar, the state president of the Kittur Karnataka Sena (KKS), said that the state government should prioritize fulfilling the most urgent demands in terms of the development of Kittur Karnataka in the budget session.
The district president of KKS, Shivanand Kolkar, said that role of the central government is also important in the development of Kittur Karnataka and that the demands of Kittur Karnataka should be prioritized in the central budget and funds mustcanva be released. According to the Nanjundappa report, a special package should be announced for the backward taluks of Karnataka, and the development of the taluks should be undertaken.
The protesters presented several key demands for the development of the Kittur Karnataka region, urging the state government to address them in the budget session, which includes:
- Establishment of Kittur Karnataka Regional Development Board: To oversee and drive development projects in the region
- Renaming of North-West Transport Corporation: To Kittur Karnataka Road Transport Corporations,reflecting the region’s identity.
- IT/BT and Textile Parks: To Plan and allocate special funds for the development of the Kittur Karnataka Region.
- State Level Offices: To shift state level offices to Suvarna Vidhana Soudha,to reduce the need for the people to travel to Bengaluru for administrative tasks.
- Irrigation Projects: To complete the projects related to the Krishna and Mahadayi rivers,with adequate funds allocated.
- Kannada Emblem: To replace the phrase “Satyameva Jayate” from hindi to Kannada,to promote the state language.
- Transportation: To increase the number of buses to improve students connectivity to reduce waiting times for students.
- Education Infrastructure: To establish ITI,Diploma Degree,and Law Colleges in every taluk of the Kittur Karnataka region.
- Statues: To install statues of Belavadi Mallamma,Amatur Balappa,and Sindhur Laxman should be installed in front of the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha.
- Metro Train: To introduce or plan to start a metro train from Belagavi to Dharwad and Hubballi,similar to Bengaluru city.
- Flyover and Ring Road: To build Flyover and the Ring Road to reduce traffic congestion and control heavy vehicle traffic in the city of Belagavi.
Kittur Karnataka Sena functionaries Devendra Talwar, Ravi Patil, Kasturi Bhavi, Laxmi Gotur, Santosh Tarimani, Bharama Kamble, Shashank Astekar, Vasu Basnaykar, Anil Daddimani, Nagesh Mali, Shankar Patil, Raju Bolanar, Basavaraj Hulakund, Ramesh Ramganatti, Dilip Hosamani, and Ningappa Nargund were present for the protest.