From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Feb 20: Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa participated in the 6th Executive Council virtual meeting of the NITI Aayog chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Saturday.
Union Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh and several union ministers took part in the meeting along with chief ministers of different states.
Highlighting Karnataka’s special problems and demands on behalf of the state government, Yediyurappa urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare Upper Bhadra and Upper Krishna projects as national projects.
The chief minister also requested the centre to approve 6 proposals worth Rs 6673 crore under modernisation of canals project and additional grants were also sought for river diversion projects.
Three ports are being developed under the PPP model, Bengaluru sub-urban Railway Project is taken up in a joint venture with the railways.
The Prime minister was requested to set up a mechanism to fast track disposal of litigation in courts as infrastructure projects are hampered due to litigations and environmental protests.
The chief minister also sought financial support to take up initiatives under National Educational Policy.
Union government was also requested to provide Rs 4300 crore to create an optical fibre network to provide network connectivity to all government offices.
Making India a global leader in the manufacturing sector, re-imagining agriculture, physical infrastructure development, accelerating human resource development, providing efficient citizen services at the grass-root level, health and nutrition were the main subjects in the agenda.
The prime minister called upon the states to focus on ease of doing business as well as on ease of living.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, all our fiscal indicators have been contained within the limits of the Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2002. The prime minister was briefed about the initiatives taken by the state for industrial development such as New Industrial Policy 2020-2024, affidavit based clearance system, steps taken to promote exports, MoUs made with e-commerce players like Amazon and Flipkart to boost marketing of local products etc.
The chief minister said steps have been taken to upgrade the skill development training curriculum in partnership with industry leaders. Karnataka has been able to maintain one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country at 3.6 percent.
A task force to promote an integrated farming system has been set up and growing millets is promoted to improve nutrition levels. farmers' contact centres have been made as a single point of contact for region-specific input supplies and advisories. It is also planned to conserve local breeds of cattle.
He said the state government intends to set up Scientific Marketing Intelligence Cell in order to shift focus on income-based policy to increase farmers' income and create an online marketing platform for surplus fruits and vegetables supported by infrastructure facilities under the Atmanirbhar scheme.
A water security plan is being developed in 41 over-exploited taluks under Atal Bhu Jal Yojana.
The Government of Karnataka plans to follow NITI Aayog’s 49 aspirational indicators to monitor the progress of our 114 backward taluks.
A Corporate Social Responsibility Portal AKANKSHA has been created for the development of backward taluks and sectors. Under Seva Sindhu Programme, 750 citizens services are provided in a paperless manner.
Under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, 3409 hospitals have enrolled, which is the maximum in the country. Under Ayushman Bharat 13 lac people were given treatment facility at a cost of Rs 2753 crore. As many as 4607 health and wellness centres have been operationalised. Under Atmanirbhar Scheme we have proposed to create super-speciality treatment facilities in government hospitals in district centres.
Integrated Public Health Policy has already been operationalised with importance to AYUSH. The state government will focus on improving nutritional status in 67 taluks in 16 districts.