Pics: Umesh Marpalli
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB)

Udupi, Apr 8: Karnataka higher education and tourism minister R V Deshpande on Wednesday April 8 participated in the ground-breaking ceremony for road construction work and inaugurated other development works at Thenkanidiyur here.

The minister symbolically inaugurated road construction work from Kadike to Nalkur-Jomulutheertha to be done at a cost of Rs 1.20 lacs, Malpe-Thenkanidiyur road work costing Rs 90 lacs and and Citizen Circle road work estimated at Rs. 1.10 crore.

Speaking on the occasion Deshpande said, "Villages will develop if MLAs hear the grievances of people in their respective areas and take appropriate action. Youths are the strength of the nation, so there is need to encourage them first."

Regarding tourism development, he said, "We have planned to have infrastructure corporations to develop tourism areas by leasing lands to investors for 30 years. We will issue licences under the proposed Tourism Trade Facilitation Act (TTFA). Karnataka state tourism department is presently contributing only 6% to the total income of the nation. IT-BT companies provide jobs to software engineers but there is still a lot of unemployment.

"TTFA bill regulates the industry, making it more safe for travellers, and clarity on tour operators, guides and hotels. If the tourists have more choices, then tourist places will improve. A new policy for the tourism industry will be formed soon encompassing adventure sports, beach tourism, yoga, naturopathy etc," he added.

He further said, "Roads, railway tracks and air connectivity are very important to strengthening tourism. Local private investors should take initiative for the development of local areas. Karnataka stands first in adopting advanced technology in education field. As many as 12,000 teachers are involved in online teaching and by the end of April-May this year, around 2,200 more candidates will be recruited for teaching. The department will fill up 75% of the vacancy."

He assured a grant of Rs 9 lac for water supply to St Mary’s Island within 8 days. He also received appeals from Udupi MLA.

Speaking to media persons on IAS officer D K Ravi death case Deshpande said, "The state had to hand over the cases to CBI to keep transparency in the administration. We are not hiding anything regarding Ravi’s death."

Udupi MLA Pramod Madhwaraj said, "The tender has been called for the maintenance and sanitation of St Mary Island and we will do it by using funds from Malpe beach development committee. Rs 39 lac has been spent on beach sanitation while Rs 69 lacs remains with the committee. We will complete the local tasks without depending on the state government. We know the way of earning and investing on development works."

Town planning president Janardhan Thonse, Veronica Carnelio, chairman of soap and detergent department, Meena lorina Pinto, President of Tenkanidiyur village panchayat, Prakhyat Shetty, Dr Nikethana and others were present.