MYSURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who has been doling out funds for memorials of politicians and popular welfare programmes, seems to have turned a blind eye to yeoman services of freedom fighters in his own backyard.
The CM had announced funds for institutions in the names of dalit leaders B Basavalingappa, B Rachiah and N Rachiah and veteran leader M Rajshekara Murthy, but repeated pleas from family members of Ramachandra Rao in Thagaduru village of Varuna constituency have fallen on deaf ears.
This neglect of successive governments has angered villagers, Rao’s family members and employees of Janata high school and Thagaduru Khadi Institute who had petitioned the government many times in this regard after Rao’s demise in 1989.
Rao along with his friends Subanna, Venakatasubbaiah and M N Jois, who drew Gandhiji’s attention during the Quit India Movement that made him to visit Thagaduru, had started a free school, khadi and cottage industry units.No entry for dalits in Srikanteshwara temple in Nanjangud angered Rao and he had taken out a padayatra from Thagaduru, demanding that authorities allow dalits into the temple.
Though the then CM Ramakrishna Hegde and his cabinet colleagues had attended the funeral of Rao and made tall promises to develop the 4.5 acre khadi institute into a memorial, nothing took shape on the ground.
The khadi unit is in a dilapidated condition and the unit manager ‘illegally’ stays at Rao’s house. Karnataka Sarvodaya Sangha that runs the khadi unit has constructed a new structure to shift reeling and handloom units. The only solace is that the government has named an irrigation canal after Rao.
Guru, a resident of Thagaduru, charged the government with forgetting contributions of Thagaduru leaders who had sacrificed their lives for the freedom movement. He said the government should announce `3 crore to develop the village as a prominent centre.
Vijayamurthy, another resident, said their efforts to reaching out to politicians have not yielded any result. The khadi unit is in a shambles, the government should develop it and pay tribute to the freedom fighters, he said. He said they have decided to set up Ramachandra Rao memorial on a site with their own money. They planned to start the work on the memorial in a couple of days, he added.