Daijiworld Media Network - Gadag
Gadag, Aug 14: Ron MLA Gurupadagouda Sanganagouda Patil (G S Patil), who boasts a four-decade-long political career having served as an MLA four times and as the chairman of various boards and corporations, assumed office as the speaker of the Legislative Assembly on Friday.
Born on April 10, 1948, to Sanganagouda and Basamma in the prestigious Patil family of Ron, Patil completed his early education at St Joseph's School in Dharwad and pursued his BSc at Karnataka College. He married Annapurnadevi on June 14, 1974, and entered the political arena in 1983.
Patil began his political journey by simultaneously contesting and winning the Ron town panchayat and APMC elections from the Savadi constituency. He entered the legislative assembly for the first time in 1989 by winning the Ron constituency. Recognizing the need for an educational revolution to develop his backward constituency, he built a 30-room government primary school with public support. He also invited the then education minister K H Ranganath to the S R Patil centenary celebration and successfully secured the establishment of an arts and science college in Ron.
Having secured electoral victories four times in 1989, 1999, 2013, and 2023, Patil has witnessed several ups and downs in politics. His elder brother R S Patil served as the member of parliament from the Bagalkot Lok Sabha constituency in 1999. Another elder brother served as the chief secretary in the Karnataka state government. His younger brother I S Patil served as the director of the Seed Corporation and the president of the KCC Bank, while his younger son Mithun Patil is currently serving as the president of the Ron taluk guarantee schemes implementation committee.
During his four terms as MLA, Patil prioritized the construction of lakes in the taluk, earning the reputation of a pro-farmer leader. He also gave importance to technical education and succeeded in getting a GTTC and a polytechnic college sanctioned for Ron.
Through his family, he established the Rajiv Gandhi Educational Institution, providing education from KG to PG. Under the DPEP Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, he contributed immensely to the education sector by opening a block resource development centre in Ron town and cluster resource centres in Gajendragad, Abbigiri, Sudi, Naregal, Hirehal, Nidagundi, Holealur, and Mushigeri.
To address the drinking water crisis in Ron town and surrounding villages, Patil successfully built a barrage across the Malaprabha river near Cholachagudda. He also secured substantial grants for the Jigaluru lake project near Ron, accelerating the stalled work and ensuring a permanent drinking water solution for the town.
Patil has significantly contributed to transport connectivity by developing major roads such as Gadag-Ron, Navalgund-Gajendragad, Naragund-Gajendragad, and Gadag-Naregal-Gajendragad. Under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, he developed roads connecting Nidagundi-Sudi, Itagi-Mugali, Hirehal-Mushigeri, Holealur-Hirehal, Halakere-Nidagundi, and Jakkali-Itagi.
He has strived to eradicate unemployment by organizing job fairs and skill training programmes for the youth, alongside self-employment training for women. He resolved electricity issues by constructing power stations and developed parks, growing into a popular leader.
When S M Krishna was the chief minister during a severe statewide drought, Patil spearheaded the construction of thousands of lakes in the Ron constituency, providing rural employment and ensuring proper water management. When incidents of farmers' fodder stacks catching fire increased, he successfully brought a fire station to Ron town, greatly benefiting the farming community. During his tenure as the chairman of the warehousing corporation, he built a 4,000-ton capacity warehouse in Ron. Currently, a cold storage plant is under construction and will be available for farmers' use in a few days.