Taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann ki Baat, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday pledged to fulfil the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi, by following the path shown by him. This is his second speech and after his Government was rattled by unabated farmers’ suicides. He had addressed the farmers on radio in July to instil confidence in them.
In his special Gandhi Jayanti address that was first broadcast on All India Radio and then telecast on Doordarshan, Siddaramaiah vowed to follow guidelines set by Gandhi to first PM Pandit Nehru on rural development and communal harmony. Greeting the people on Gandhi Jayanti, he reminded them that Karnataka was the first State to implement Gandhi’s pet project of ‘Panchayat Raj’.
Stating that his Government has formulated a 21-point programme for rural development, Siddaramaiah said, “following in the footsteps of Gandhi in his vision for clean villages, Karnataka has set an example to the rest of the country.”
He said, “Karnataka is number one in setting up of personal toilets. We have set unique example of setting up of bathroom-cum-toilets in villages. We have been working efficiently in trying to provide clean drinking water.” The CM also drew a parallel between Gandhi’s dream of creating hunger-free India with his Government’s ‘Anna Bhagya’ (scheme to provide rice at `1 a kg to the poor).
He also listed out various initiatives taken by his Government for the upliftment of the downtrodden, farmer development, creating economic equality, and women empowerment among other initiatives.
later in a function Siddaramaiah proposed one Gandhi Bhavan chapters in each of the State districts in order to enable Bapu’s principles and his ways of living to reach out to the young population of the State. He stressed on the fact that for India, Mahatma Gandhi is just not a figure, but has become a necessity in today’s world.
Siddaramaiah, said, “Gandhiji is a necessity in today’s world. US president Barack Obama said Gandhiji is not confined only to India, but he stands for the whole world. There should be one chapters of Gandhi Bhavan, one in each of the State districts so that more and more youth get drawn towards Bapu’s ways of life and thinking.”
“Gandhi had struggled throughout his life to eradicate untouchability. However, it is sad to see that untouchability still exists in our country. There are two kinds of untouchability. The external untouchability can be avoided by imposing and following a set of rules and restrictions, but the internal untouchability can only be averted by going through transformation from within,” he added.