Pics: Hemanath Padubidri
Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi(SM)
 
Udupi Aug 20: The 97th birth anniversary of former Karnataka chief minister Devaraj Urs (1915–1982)was observed at the Dr Ambedkar Bhavana, at Udupi on Monday August 20.

The function was inaugurated by Kota Srinivas Poojary (district incharge) and organized by the district administration, zilla panchayat, backward classes and minority communities department.

The district incharge minister remembered the reformation Devraj Urs had brought in the society. "The Land Reform Act was one of the best reforms by him, if the Act had not been enacted, a large number of people would have remained as bonded laborers," Poojary said.

This Act helped the poor and the homeless to gain ownership of land. He said Urs was a leader for the poor and backward sections of the society. More than a politician, he was a farmer or a common man who understood the need of the poor and acted accordingly, he said.

"Through Urs was born in a royal family he spent his childhood as a middle class person. Devaraj Urs encouraged the cause of the poor and ushered in a "silent social revolution” in the state of Karnataka. He was the voice of the poor and stood for the cause of the downtrodden in society," he added.

Raghupati Bhat, MLA, said that D Devaraj Urs had brought about various social and economic revolutions in the state. "He was the one who renamed the state from Mysore to Karnataka in 1973. These were some landmark decisions taken by him. But Urs had to endure lot of negative propaganda because of the Land Reforms Act. Even the media did not highlight his achievements as it should have rightly done," he said.

Bhat said that the Land Reforms Act had been effectively implemented in the districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada. Though many Chief Ministers have come and gone, people still remember Urs because of his path-breaking ideologies, which the government still follows, he said.