BELAGAVI: Members of the Karnataka Border Area Development Authority (KBADA) met in the border area for the first time on the occasion of ‘Karnataka Suvarna Sambhrama’ and the ongoing winter legislative session in Belagavi. The meeting passed a resolution to start a regional office of the authority at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, said its Chairman Somanna Bevinmarad.
He told the media on Monday, “In the past seven months of my tenure, I have travelled to 19 districts and 63 taluks in the border areas of Goa, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and found many problems faced by Kannada schools and Kannadigas.
Kannada schools in Maharashtra have no Kannada teachers, there is a demand for Kannada Bhavan in Goa and a demand for reservation for Kannada medium students. We thoroughly discussed these issues and passed resolutions at our meeting here.’’
The meeting decided to send the proposal to start the regional office of the authority at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha to the staff and administrative improvements department.
The meeting passed a resolution for the supplementary budget of Rs 50 crore to the authority to carry out more activities. It was decided to bring the authority within the ambit of the planning department as per the report of administrative improvements commission.
The meeting decided to write to the Maharashtra government to appoint Kannada teachers to schools. The authority decided to seek reservation for Kannada medium students in higher education and employment. It is sending a proposal to the Assembly and Council to pass a resolution condemning the statements of leaders of Maharashtra seeking the merger of Belagavi into Maharashtra.
The authority will address problems of Kannadigas in other states and seek funds to purchase land to construct Kannada Bhavan in Goa, Bevinmarad said.