BENGALURU: Priyank Kharge, son of veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and the youngest face in Siddaramaiah’s team, is the new minister for information technology and biotechnology.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced portfolios for 13 new ministers on Tuesday, two days after recasting his ministry. While Kagodu Thimmappa bagged revenue, Santosh Lad got labour and H Y Meti excise. Tanveer Sait will handle primary and secondary education apart from minority welfare and Wakf while SS Mallikarjun is the new horticulture minister.
Siddaramaiah has also effected some change of responsibilities for existing ministers.
Kharge (38), who holds a diploma in computer science, is expected to infuse enthusiasm into a ministry that must interact with aspirational youth and the high-profile IT and BT sector in Bengaluru.
Siddaramaiah added infrastructure to Major Industries Minister
R V Deshpande’s portfolio, taking it away from Roshan Baig, giving the latter urban development.
Since Sunday, Siddaramaiah had been in damage control mode as protests erupted in some districts, following his decision to drop some ministers.
With many prominent leaders openly sulking and some engineering road blockades, the chief minister had found no time to distribute portfolios.
Lobbying for ministries further delayed the announcement of responsibilities. Eventually, Siddaramaiah chose not to disturb his senior colleagues. However, tourism, which was with Deshpande, has been assigned to Priyank Kharge.
Simultaneously, T B Jayachandra has been divested of higher education, with Basavaraj Rayareddy getting the portfolio. Jayachandra gets additional charge of minor irrigation, in addition to the existing law and parliamentary affairs.
I’m not a pair of slippers to be discarded, fumes Ambareesh
Rebel Star MH Ambareesh, who was dropped as housing minister, sharpened his attack on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday and dismissed any possibility of changing his decision to quit from the Assembly membership.
He said he would personally hand over the resignation letter to Pro-tem Speaker Shivashankar Reddy as required. “I am not a pair of slippers to be used when needed and discarded with disdain,” he fumed as he expressed “the hurt and humiliation” he has suffered fromSiddaramaiah.
Will make investors feel at home, says Priyank
The newly inducted IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge said that the government will play the role of facilitator to ensure that entrepreneurs and investors feel at home in Karnataka.
In an interview with Express, he said, “Effective implementation of polices that we alrea dy have and taking a re-look at some of the rules to simplify and strengthen to make them industry-friendly are some of my immediate priorities. I also want to see that from a services focused industry we become a product focused industry.”
How the education portfolio went back and forth
Hard lobbying for ministerial berths forced the Chief Minister to recall the list of portfolios which was sent for Governor Vajubhai Vala’s assent on Tuesday afternoon. Basavaraj Rayareddy, who was reportedly given primary and secondary education portfolio, expressed unhappiness over it and demanded Higher Education, originally allocated to Tanveer Sait. With Rayareddy not willing to budge, Siddaramaiah had to accede.
NEWLY inducted IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge does not have the luxury of time. He has to start showing results much before the state gets into election mode, which is less than two years away. The youngest minister in the Siddaramaiah cabinet is well aware of the challenges and seems to be eager to bring in dynamism into the ministry by taking industry leaders into confidence.
“The government will play the role of facilitator to ensure that entrepreneurs and investors feel at home in Karnataka,” Priyank told Express on Tuesday, after the CMO made an announcement on the portfolio allocation. Priyank seems to have done his homework to get cracking from day one.
His priorities
Effective implementation of the existing policies and reviewing some of the rules to make them industry-friendly are some of my priorities.
Our focus will be to provide a conducive environment for entrepreneurs and investors and the government will play the role of a facilitator. I also want to see that we become a product-focused industry from a services-focused industry.
On start-ups
Bengaluru is the start-up capital and we will continue to work towards providing the best environment for start-ups to mushroom not just in the IT/BT sectors, but also in mobile gaming, aerospace and aviation. We will think of a unique model to support start-ups and also provide seed capital.
Working with industry
We will work with the industry to ensure growth and development of the state. I will hear them out and try to understand their requirements and take necessary steps.
Focus on tier-II cities
Proper infrastructure, connectivity and skilled manpower is required in tier-II cities to attract IT/BT firms. Some tier-II cities like Mysuru, Mangaluru and Hubballi are more suitable. We will look into those aspects and work with the industry.
On the challenges ahead
Ensuring that our engineering graduates are industry-ready is one of the challenges as the industry keeps complaining about them not being job-ready. I will sit with the Higher Education Minister and try to take whatever measures required.
I am also planning to write to Union Minister Ananth Kumar requesting for setting up National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research Centre in Bengaluru so that pharmacy graduates are benefited.