Develop Raichur, stop T’gana from meddling in our affairs

Governments have come and gone but the living conditions of the people in Raichur, which also has a mega thermal power plant, remain abysmal to say the least. People die after drinking contaminated water and still neither the chief minister nor opposition leaders have the time to visit the affected taluks or pull up officials for supplying polluted water to people.

A stray dog bite case is news in the capital city, Bengaluru but when people die after drinking contaminated water, it hardly makes any impact on the government. Some piecemeal efforts have been made with the government issuing directions to the Department of Health and Family Welfare to open temporary clinics, deploy additional doctors and other staff and supply water in tankers till the patients recover in Raichur but there is no talk of finding a permanent solution to the problem. The Raichur district-in-charge minister did make a flying visit to the city to give instructions to the DC, CEO, DHO and other senior district leaders but he soon rushed back.  

Second from bottom

Raichur which shares a border with Telangana, has always been at first or second from the bottom in all important parameters like health, education, economy, social life and what not. This district has the dubious distinction of having a majority of malnourished children; recording deaths due to drinking contaminated water; highest school dropouts and deaths due to health issues. Even seven decades after independence, people in many villages drink water from unhygienic open water bodies due to lack of access to tap water. The zamindar system still exists in this district due to the influence of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. With the literacy rate in rural areas still low, people hesitate to question elected representatives on the lack of basic amenities. The netas visit villages only during the elections and spend the rest of their time in Bengaluru.

An academician from south Karnataka who worked in Raichur University told News Trail that Raichur is ranked 28th in the Living Standard Index, 30th in health index, 29th in the education index and 30th in the Human Resources Development index. Sanitation, drinking water sources and cleanliness is still a distant dream.

 People who are posted at Raichur go back to their respective districts within six months or a year due to the pathetic living conditions. The concept of Swacch Bharath has not been heard of in this district. The Government of India releases sufficient fund to the Karnataka government to tackle malnourishment among kids but the benefits hardly reach them. The new-born babies are underweight in most cases as mothers don’t get nourishing food. Naturally the kids too are born malnourished.

 The District-in-charge Minister rarely visits the taluk or villages unless there is a visit of the CM or Central leaders. Many central government schemes are unheard of in this region. Every party promises development but forget all about it once the MLAs or MPs reach Vidhana Soudha, the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha.

 Poverty is the biggest curse with the average annual income much lower compared to the state standard. Industrialists refuse to come to the district due to lack of basic infrastructure. The youth do their basic studies here and then go to Bengaluru or Mysuru but never return to their home district. A visit to any remote village will show how deep poverty has sunk its roots. This place sizzles during summer and there is a drinking water crisis most of the time. Once known for growing cotton, paddy and other crops, agricultural activity has virtually stopped with the rains playing truant every year. The agricultural University has not been providing any help to district farmers to go for alternative crops due to changing weather conditions every year. Such complaints of neglect are also common in Bidar district which shares a border with Andhra Pradesh, Mysuru which lies adjoining Kerala and Chamarajanagar which lies adjacent to Tamil Nadu besides Belagavi which is on the state border with Maharashtra.

While other states have improved the border villages, Karnataka has totally neglected them which is a matter of concern. Naturally people living on the Karnataka side, would find the grass greener on the other side-in this case Telangana.Elected representatives and the bureaucracy are the main culprits for the sad state of affairs.

 If people still have to fight for tap water, it does no good to the image of a state which houses the Silicon Valley of the country. The CM and Opposition leader who frequently visit Mysuru or other developed districts, don’t have the time to inspect the backward districts which is a cause for concern. If the government had implemented the recommendation of Dr Nanjundappa Committee earnestly, Raichur would have progressed like other districts. It&rsqu