BENGALURU: Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday announced that the State Government will name the Karwar Medical College in Uttara Kannada district and a major road in Bengaluru’s Shivarama Karanth Layout after former CM late Ramakrishna Hegde.
Shivakumar made the announcements while inaugurating Hegde’s birth centenary celebrations here along with Vice President CP Radhakrishnan. The State Government will also institute the Ramakrishna Hegde Best Panchayat Award, to be presented annually on his birth anniversary, in recognition of his contribution to panchayat raj and rural governance.
Describing Hegde as “a leader who created leaders”, Shivakumar said true leadership was not about creating followers but nurturing new leaders. He said Karnataka’s Panchayat Raj experiments had become a model for the country and later influenced the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments.
Hegde practised value-based politics and social justice rather than caste-based politics, Shivakumar said, adding that his leadership was accepted across Karnataka.
Calling Hegde’s life a dictionary from which future generations could learn, the CM said the former leader viewed power as an opportunity for public service rather than a symbol of strength.
Shivakumar said Hegde’s policies had helped expand medical and engineering education and encouraged the growth of private educational institutions. He also added that the state finances have grown since.
Recalling his political journey in Kanakapura, Shivakumar said several leaders, including Siddaramaiah, RV Deshpande had emerged from Hegde’s political school.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent a special message on the occasion which was read out by Jiti Nichani, granddaughter of Ramakrishna Hegde.
Mamta Nichani, daughter of Ramakrishna Hegde, said, “For us, my father’s legacy was never about the positions he held, but the values with which he lived his public life. He believed deeply that power should reach the last citizen, that people closest to their communities should have a voice in the decisions that affect them, and that public office came with an obligation to be accountable. He stood by those beliefs even when there was a personal or political price to pay.
As a family, we hope his centenary encourages a new generation to engage with those ideas and understand the person behind them.”