Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Jan 10: State revenue minister, Kagodu Thimmappa, has predicted about the possibility of the chief minister announcing about creation of 33 new taluks in the state, when presenting the budget.

Speaking to media persons at Vidhan Soudha on Monday January 9, he noted that as of now there is demand for carving out 43 new taluks. "The chief minister has been approached with a request to create 33 taluks on priority basis. We have got positive indications and the proposal may be mooted during presentation of this year's budget," he stated.

When his attention was drawn to the announcement about new taluks made by the previous government he pointed out that making announcements is easy but providing all facilities needed for these taluks is a challenging task. "Creation of a new taluk requires at least a hundred crore rupees. Therefore, we have sought creation of 33 taluks on first priority basis," he clarified. He said that several facilities like courts, hospitals, mini Vidhan Soudha etc have to be created afresh for each of the new taluks, and that in some taluks, works already undertaken are facing monetary constraints.

It may be recalled that Moodbidri, Kadaba, Brahmavar, and Byndoor in coastal districts have been awaiting to be made full-fledged taluks. In the recent past, the new demand for carving out Kaup taluk in Udupi district has been gaining momentum, with former minister, Vinay Kumar Sorake, giving full thrust to this demand. As creation of new taluks come with many facilities and obviates the need to travel long distances for the people to get their work done, there have been demand for new taluks in almost all the districts in the state. The state government also will have to take into account demography, industries, other activities, facilities available etc besides the financial burden it can bear, before announcing creation of new taluks. There are also political pulls and pushes to handle. As such, unless and until a formal announcement is made, it is difficult to predict which taluks will get the chief minister's nod this year.