Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (TP)
Udupi, Feb 19: The Samata Sainik Dal staged a protest in Brahmagiri on February 19, wearing black armbands to demand enhanced financial assistance for housing schemes and a CID inquiry into the Hanehalli Krishna shootout case.
The protesters marched from the Martyrs’ Memorial at Ajjarkad towards the Congress office in Udupi. Police intercepted the rally at Brahmagiri Junction, following which a protest was held near the auto-rickshaw stand. The protesters urged the district in-charge minister to visit the spot and address their grievances.
Addressing the gathering, district president Vishwanath Petri said that people from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Castes across the state continue to live without proper housing. He alleged that the government has been providing only Rs 2 lac for house construction over the past decade, an amount he claimed is insufficient even to lay a foundation.
Citing the rising costs of stone, sand, and cement, he noted that building a 600 sq ft house now costs nearly Rs 20 lac. He demanded that the government increase assistance to Rs 9 lac under the Ambedkar Awas Scheme and Rs 5 lac under the Basava Indira Awas Scheme.
Vishwanath Petri also referred to the incident in Hanehalli, Brahmavar taluk, where a daily wage labourer named Krishna was shot dead two years ago. Claiming that the police have failed to trace the accused, he demanded that the case be handed over to the CID for a thorough investigation.
Udupi District Congress president Ashok Kodavoor, along with Ramesh Kanchan, president of the Udupi taluk guarantee scheme implementation committee, and Kishan Hegde Kolkebail, visited the site and assured the protesters that their memorandum would be submitted to the government.
Ganesh Saliyan, Jyothi Shiriyar, Vignesh Brahmavar, Satish Jannadi, and other members of the Samata Sainik Dal participated in the protest.