Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (NJC)
Mangaluru, Sep 15: The CPI (M) Dakshina Kannada district committee has urged the Karnataka government to adopt a people-centric and comprehensive development policy for coastal Karnataka, instead of promoting corporate-oriented public-private partnership (PPP) models.
Addressing a press conference in Mangaluru on Tuesday, CPI (M) district secretary Muneer Katipalla said the special cabinet meeting scheduled to be held in Mangaluru on September 18 should focus on addressing the long-pending issues of the people of the coastal districts.
The party alleged that the development taking place in the coastal region has not benefited all sections of society equally. It expressed concern over increasing migration, unemployment among local youth, environmental degradation, and the growing influence of corporate investments.
The CPI (M) demanded better healthcare facilities, including the establishment of Kidwai Cancer Hospital, Jayadeva Heart Hospital, and a NIMHANS unit in Mangaluru. It also sought a government multi-speciality hospital in Uttara Kannada and improved healthcare facilities in the newly created taluks of the coastal districts.
Among its other demands are a people-oriented coastal tourism policy, promotion of industries based on arecanut, coconut, and rubber, modernisation of fishing harbours, support for traditional fishermen, and promotion of small-scale fishery-based industries.
The party also called for measures to create employment opportunities for local youth, regulate migration, and prevent exploitation of migrant workers. It sought a welfare scheme for non-resident Kannadigas from the coastal districts on the lines of Kerala.
The CPI (M) further demanded a simplified sand and red-stone mining policy, affordable housing and house sites for homeless families, expansion of government educational institutions, establishment of government engineering colleges in all three coastal districts, and polytechnic colleges at the taluk level.
Other demands include regulation of toll gates on coastal highways, comprehensive development of tribal communities including Koraga, Malekudiya, and Kudubi communities, implementation of the Dr Mohammed Peer report and Forest Rights Act, resolution of Dalit issues, and appropriate measures regarding the Kasturirangan report.
The party also sought measures to address traffic congestion in Mangaluru and surrounding areas, implementation of metro and other public transport projects, establishment of a high court bench in Mangaluru, and a special action plan to promote communal harmony and peaceful coexistence.
On environmental issues, the CPI (M) demanded strict action against industries releasing untreated wastewater into rivers and the sea. It also sought adequate sewage and waste-treatment facilities in the Baikampady industrial area and a separate industrial zone for fish-processing industries and fish mills.
The party announced that it will hold a march from Naguri Junction to the Praja Soudha building at Padil, where the cabinet meeting is scheduled, at 9:30 am on September 18, and submit a memorandum of demands on behalf of the people of the coastal districts.
District secretariat members Sunil Kumar Bajal, Yadava Shetty, Sukumar Thokkottu, and Jayanthi B Shetty, and district committee members Prameela K and Yogeesh Jappinamogaru were present at the press conference.