BANGALORE: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday paid rich tributes to former chief minister D Devaraj Urs.
Speaking at a function organised here to mark the former chief minister’s 99th birth anniversary, Siddaramaiah said Urs was instrumental in making the ‘tiller the owner of the land’ during his tenure as chief minister.
“He was also responsible for implementing the Land Reforms Act which helped poor farmers. Urs strongly believed in equality and social responsibility. Urs belongs to the same league as Martin Luther, Nelson Mandela and Dr B R Ambedkar, who were the voice of the voiceless and fought for their rights,” Siddaramaiah said. He said Urs became a mass leader for his commitment to implementing policies on the lines of “Sarvarigoo Samapaalu, Sarvarigoo Samabaalu.”
Although the Constitution guarantees equality, not many ruling parties implement this, the chief minister said.
Devaraj Urs had started the Department of Backward Classes with an initial amount of `5 crore and the present government has released `1,445 crore, he said.
Siddaramaiah said Tamil Nadu witnessed a movement for equality.
Although Karnataka did not witness such a movement, Devaraj Urs brought reservation for the Backward Classes because of his commitment to their uplift.
It is not important how many years a leader or a government rules the state, but what good works they do for the welfare of the people, he said.
“I have asked Social Welfare Minister H Anjaneya to announce 100 new programmes in connection with the birth centenary celebrations of Devaraj Urs in the next one year,” he said.
The chief minister also felicitated several meritorious students and also distributed loans from the D D Urs Development Corporation. Siddaramaiah also presented an award instituted in memory of Urs to Subbaiah Shetty, a former minister in the Urs Cabinet.
Siddu Becomes Teacher!
Siddaramaiah took on the role of a teacher in KPCC office premises, where the OBC wing of the party had organsied a programme to mark the birth anniversary of former PM Rajiv Gandhi and former CM Devaraj Urs. Speaking on the occasion, he asked the KPCC OBC wing chief Venugopal whether he was aware who had implemented the recommendations of the Chinnappa Reddy Commission on reservation to OBCs to contest the panchayat and ULB elections and also to the posts of chairman and deputy chairman of the local bodies. “Do you know what is the quantum of reservation fixed? You are not aware, but still you are heading the OBC wing of the KPCC,” he chided. Disclosing that the reservation quota was fixed at 26.4 per cent for Backward Classes and Minorities (BCM) ‘A’, and 6.6 per cent for BCM ‘B’ categories, he said, “I took the initiative to implement it.”
