Petrol and diesel prices in the State will come down by ₹ 2 a litre following the State government’s decision to reduce Value Added Tax on the fuel, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said in Kalaburagi on Monday.
Addressing a gathering after unfurling the national flag at the Hyderabad Karnataka Liberation Day celebrations at the District Armed Reserved police grounds, Mr. Kumaraswamy said that the Congress-JD(S) coalition government had decided to cut VAT on petrol and diesel to reduce the burden on consumer.
Israel-model farming
Listing the steps taken to transform agriculture and improve farmers’ income, he said that the State government has decided to adopt agricultural technology from Israel. “We will start a pilot project by adopting these technologies in eight districts including Koppal and Yadgir in Hyderabad Karnataka region. This will provide some respite to farmers caught in the vicious circle of lack of rainfall.”
He said the newly built Kalaburagi airport on the outskirts of the city is set to be a boon for the tourism industry in the Hyderabad Karnataka region. The airport will increase the tourist footfall in the region.
Skill development centres
Mr. Kumaraswamy said that the government had allocated sizable funds to set up skill development centres in tier-2 and tier-3 cities across the State for training youths. Industrial clusters will be set up in some districts under the ‘Compete with China’ programme to make farm machinery centre at Bidar, solar equipment manufacturing centre at Kalaburagi, electronic toys industry at Koppal and garments factory in Ballari district.
Sevalal Cultural centres
In the next three years, the State government would invest ₹ 112 crore to revive Sevalal Cultural centres, which are in dilapidated condition. At least 400 centres would be revived at a cost of ₹ 23 crore during 2018-19.
“After years of struggle, and the efforts of former Chief Minister late Dharam Singh, Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and former Minister Vaijnath Patil led to the granting of special status under Article 371(J) that provides reservations benefits in education and employment for the people of six districts in Hyderabad Karnataka region. Now poor and meritorious students are able to pursue higher education by getting seats in medical and engineering courses,” Mr.Kumaraswamy said.
The Chief Minister also remembered the prominent freedom fighters and sacrifices made by them for liberating the region from the Nizam and for waging a struggle against the Nizam’s private army of Razakars.
District in-charge Minister Priyank Kharge, Minister for Water Resources and Medical Education D.K. Shivakumar, Horticulture Minister M.C. Managuli, Regional Commissioner Subodh Yadav, Deputy Commissioner R. Venkateshkumar, and Mayor Sharankumar Modi were present.