From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
 
Bangalore, Sep 11: In an effort to address the needs of all industrial workers in Karnataka, the State Labour Department has chalked up plans to establish a residential school in each of the city corporation limits in the State for the children of industrial workers.

The Labour Department would be constructing the school buildings and provide all required basic facilities to children, said Minister of State for Labour P T Parameshwara Naik, disclosing that the Government would be spending Rs 30 crore for developing the schools.

Speaking to reporters in Banglaore on Wednesday, the minister said the residential schools would provide education from 5th to 12th standard.

Education would be free of cost for kids of industrial workers, he said.

Apart from the existing eight city corporations in the State, the Government has recently decided to upgrade Shimoga, Tumkur and Bijapur city municipal councils to city corporations.

The government would create infrastructure for such schools and entrust the responsibility of running them to Delhi Public School, Naik said adding the schools were expected to be opened by June next year.

“There should not be any problem in meeting the deadline as there is no money problem. The Karnataka Building and Other Construction Welfare Board has Rs 800 crore in its account,” he said.

The Labour Department has already written letters to all the eleven Deputy Commissioners for land acquisition, the Minister said.

It will acquire land from Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) and some other departments, he said.
 

State-level Construction Academy Proposed
 
The Karnataka Building and Other Construction Welfare Board also proposed to establish a state-level academy of construction in Bangalore on the lines of National Academy of Construction in Hyderabad.

The academy would be named after renowned engineer and recipient of the Bharat Ratna late Sir M Visvesvaraya, Naik said.

The Board also plans to set up skill development centres for the benefit of construction workers and their children.

Marriage Halls would be built in Bangalore, Hubli, Mysore, Mangalore and Gulbarga, he said.

A trust headed by Union Minister for Minority Affairs K Rahman Khan runs the Delhi Public School (DPS) in Bangalore.

During the admission, preference would be given to children of industrial workers.

Admissions would be opened from June 2014 and the intake would be decided after consultations with experts, he said.

The department authorities have been told to identify lands for developing schools in all city corporations. Lands have already been identified in Hubli, Mysore and Bellary.

Four marriage halls would be constructed in Bangalore at an estimated cost of Rs 6 crore and in all other district headquarters at a cost of Rs 3 crore, Naik said adding the marriage halls would be constructed in areas near industrial townships.