The Hindu
Udupi May 26: Medical Education Minister V.S. Acharya said on Friday that more than Rs. 30 crore had been spent on development of roads in Udupi district.
He was speaking after inaugurating the Kaup-Malar Bridge at Malar in Udupi district.
Dr. Acharya said that several development projects had been taken up after the Karnataka Development Front Government came to power.
The Government had been giving importance to education, health, roads and bridges. The work on Manipura-Subashnagar Bridge was nearing completion. An amount of Rs. 1.58 crore was being spent on it, he said.
Dr. Acharya said that grants were being distributed equally among all the six Assembly constituencies in the district without any partisan considerations.
Pension
The Government would be giving a monthly pension of Rs. 400 under the "Sandhya Suraksha" scheme. Seven lakh families were expected to benefit from this scheme, he said.
The Government had launched the "Amruta" scheme to make widows financially independent. Under this scheme, they would be given either a cow or a buffalo so that they could take up dairy farming. A sum of Rs. 6 crore had been released for Udupi district for the implementation of this scheme, the Minister said.
`Grants utilised'
Later, inaugurating various projects at Mudrangady, Dr. Acharya said the Government had completely utilised all Central grants. Wherever there was no money to implement the Centrally sponsored schemes such as the Swajaldhara Yojana, the State Government had provided funds. This was done so that the villagers were not put to hardship, he said.
Achievements
The Government had allocated Rs. 1 crore each to 1,000 villages under the Suvarna Grama Yojana.
Bicycles worth Rs. 40 crore had been distributed to girls and boys going to government schools. Grants had been given to 124 industrial training institutes, Dr. Acharya said.
Kaup MLA Lalaji Mendan, zilla panchayat members Gladys Almeida and Gerald Fernandes, and leader of Opposition in Udupi Taluk Panchayat Katapady Shankar Poojary were present.