CM?holds 'cordial' pre-budget meet with dalit leaders

Bengaluru, Mar 5: Wednesday’s pre-budget meeting of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with various communities almost turned into a show of strength.

With back-to-back pre-budget meetings with various castes and communities, Siddaramaiah began his day by having a meeting with dalit organisations and leaders. He later scheduled meetings with backward classes organisations and later minority community leaders.

It is said that as many as 52 dalit organisations were invited to the pre-budget meeting. Barring two organisations, representatives from 50 organisations and other leaders met Siddaramaiah at his official residence Krishna. Close to 300 people participated in the meeting.

Dalit leader Siddalingaiah said the meeting was quite cordial. “The issue of dalit chief minister did not arise. The chief minister assured us of the government’s intent for imple-menting the schemes which can uplift the community,” he said.

Receptive ministers

Siddalingaiah said both Siddaramaiah and Social Welfare Minister Anjaneya were receptive to the issues raised by the dalit organisations. “The government heard our pleas on the Karnataka Scheduled Cases Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan (Planning, Allocation and Utilisation of Financial Resources)?Act, 2013, wherein Section 7(d) speaks of allocation towards certain non-divisible infrastructure projects which are deemed to have been spent as per the government allocation from the funds meant for the community. We have raised certain concerns and they were taken seriously by the chief minister,” he said.?

Speaking to the media, after his meeting with dalit leaders, Siddaramaiah said that there was nothing to the meeting barring discussions on the budgetary requirements for the community.

Conciliatory effort

The meeting with dalit leaders and organisations had raised a lot of speculations, in the backdrop of a clamour for a dalit chief minister to replace Siddaramaiah. The meeting was seen as a conciliatory effort by Siddaramaiah towards the dalit community.

“We have been allocating special funds to the dalits previously. This time also, I had invited the dalit leaders to seek their opinions and suggestions for preparing the budget. We will provide, in future also, funds for the upliftment of the community,” he said.

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Mangaluru’s ₹1,200 crore fix: Massive sewage overhaul to end city’s drainage woes

News Network

December 19,2025

Mangaluru: In a decisive move to tackle the city’s deteriorating sanitation infrastructure, the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has announced a massive ₹1,200 crore action plan to overhaul its underground drainage (UGD) network.

The initiative, spearheaded by Deputy Commissioner and MCC Administrator Darshan HV, aims to bridge "missing links" in the current system that have left residents grappling with overflowing sewage and environmental hazards.

The Breaking Point

The announcement follows a high-intensity phone-in session on Thursday, where the DC was flooded with grievances from frustrated citizens. Residents, including Savithri from Yekkur, described a harrowing reality: raw sewage from apartments leaking into stormwater drains, creating a "permanent stink" and turning residential zones into mosquito breeding grounds.

"We are facing immense difficulties due to the stench and the health risks. Local officials have remained silent until now," one resident reported during the session.

The Strategy: A Six-Year Vision

DC Darshan HV confirmed that the proposed plan is not a temporary patch but a comprehensive six-year roadmap designed to accommodate Mangaluru’s projected population growth. Key highlights of the plan include:

• Infrastructure Expansion: Laying additional pipelines to connect older neighborhoods to the main grid.

• STP Crackdown: Stricter enforcement of Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) regulations. While new apartments are required to have functional STPs, many older buildings lack them entirely, and several newer units are reportedly non-functional.

• Budgetary Push: The plan has already been discussed with the district in-charge minister and the Secretary of the Urban Development Department. It is slated for formal presentation in the upcoming state budget.

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