Land acquisition soon: MCC

July 1, 2011

Mangalore, July 1: The Mangalore City Corporation has acquired 7.23 acres of land at a cost of Rs 7.5 crore for the construction of private bus stand in Pumpwell and the rest of the land will be acquired soon. The project does not aim at building a bus stand or a bus stop, but the Mangalore City Corporation has planned to develop it as a transportation hub.

Replying to many queries of the Corporators regarding the delay in the construction process, MCC Commissioner Dr K N Vijay Prakash said in the MCC general body meeting on Thursday that the plan has been laid for the transportation hub with foresightedness.

The plan has been laid in such a way that the bus stand will serve the need for another 25 years. Out of Rs 5 crore of the Chief Minister's fund which has been reserved for traffic management, Rs 2 crore has been reserved for the construction of the Pumpwell bus stand. The fund will be utilised for the initial works, informed the Commissioner.

No protests in MCC

In one of the major decisions, MCC Mayor Praveen announced the ban on protests and dharnas in the city corporation limits.

Even as the street vendors continued staging the protest outside the MCC, against the MCC's eviction drive on Thursday, the Mayor strictly announced that the staging of protests will be strictly banned in the MCC premises henceforth.

“Those who wish to stage the protest must stage it in the public area,” he declared.

Though the Mayor affirmed that the MCC would not stop the street vendors' eviction drive with the help of 'Civic Tiger' at any cost, he said he would discuss the issue with the Deputy Commissioner and the District-in-Charge Minister and come out with a decision within 15 days.

Taking note of the nine faults in the tender process of streetlight work, the MCC Commissioner informed that he has sent notice to the Executive Engineer and the Chief Accounts Officer to submit a detailed report of the issue, based on which he would take the decision.

He also said the State government has ordered to introduce energy saving concept in the MCC limits and KUIDFC has been nominated as the nodal agency to take up the work. Once the agenda is submitted before the Council, the work proposal will be started, he said.

Oppn members walk out

The meeting witnessed a dramatic turn as the members of the opposition party boycotted the meet and waked out of the meeting hall. The tiff occurred between the two parties as the opposition party members raised their voice against the submission of agenda on the land acquisition for widening Yeyyadi-Kuntalpadi-Shaktinagara road. They urged the Mayor to place the agenda before the Standing Committee for City Development, discuss the issue and then pass the agenda.

When Chief Whip Sudhir Shetty ignored the opposition and proceeded with other agendas, Corporator Ashok Kumar D K tried to pull the mike which led to a verbal fight. And it ended with the opposition members walking out of the hall.

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Campus politics: DKS pushes to restore student elections in Karnataka banned since 1989

News Network

November 26,2025

Bengaluru, Nov 26: Karnataka is taking its first concrete steps towards lifting a three-decade-old ban on student elections in colleges and universities. Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar announced Wednesday that the state government will form a small committee to study the reintroduction of campus polls, a practice halted in 1989 following incidents of violence.

Speaking at a 'Constitution Day' event organised by the Karnataka Congress, Mr. Shivakumar underscored the move's aim: nurturing new political leadership from the grassroots.

"Recently, (Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to me and Chief Minister (Siddaramaiah) asking us to think about restarting student elections," Shivakumar stated. "I'm announcing today that we'll form a small committee and seek a report on this."

Student elections were banned in Karnataka in 1989, largely due to concerns over violence and the infiltration of political party affiliates into campus life. The ban effectively extinguished vibrant student bodies and the pipeline of young leaders they often produced.

Mr. Shivakumar, who also serves as the Karnataka Congress president, said that former student leaders will be consulted to "study the pros and cons" of the re-introduction.

Acknowledging the history of the ban, he added, "There were many criminal activities taking place back then. We’ll see how we can conduct (student) elections by regulating such criminal activities."

The Deputy CM reminisced about his own journey, which began on campus. He recalled his political activism at Sri Jagadguru Renukacharya College leading to his first Assembly ticket in 1985 at the age of 23. "That's how student leadership was at the time. Such leadership has gone today. College elections have stopped," he lamented, adding that for many, college elections were "like a big movement" where leaders were forged.

The move, driven by the Congress high command's push to cultivate young talent, will face scrutiny from academics and university authorities who have, in the past, expressed concern that the return of polls could disrupt the peaceful academic environment and turn campuses into political battlegrounds.

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