Kalyana Karnataka, one of the most backward regions in the country, received two more jolts last week on the developmental front. The Centre withdrew its proposal on setting up a textile part in Kalaburagi and asked the State to refund ₹1.85 crore. It also ruled out the possibility of forming a new Railway Division headquartered in the same place.
These are the two latest additions to the long list of broken promises and denied projects for the region. The denial of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to Raichur in 2015 was the first of the disappointments to the region.
Last month, the region suffered another setback when the Union government preferred Hubballi-Dharwad over Kalaburagi for establishing the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
Special status
It was during the second term of the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre that the region got special status under 371(J). Some projects, such as the building of ESIC medical complex and a medical college established in Kalaburagi, had people’s hopes up.
However, a new Railway Division with Kalaburagi as its headquarters and the textile park remained non-starters and have now come to be cancelled.
Another important project sanctioned for the region in the same period was the National Investment and Manufacturing Zone planned to be established in Kalaburagi. The State government had identified 12,500 acres of land for the project.
However, no steps have been taken towards implementation of the project over the last few years.
Only two major projects, the Kalaburagi-Bidar railway line and the Kalaburagi airport, which were at the final stages of completion by the end of UPA-II at the Centre and before Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa took charge in Karnataka, respectively, were taken forward.
The former was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2017 and the latter by Mr. Yediyurappa in November 2019.
The rest of the projects have been put in cold storage, while new projects have not been sanctioned, rue locals.
