Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah pledges to fulfil dreams of Mahatma Gandhi in his radio address

BENGALURU: In his second such address to the state on radio, taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Mann ki baat', Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today pledged to fulfil the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi, by following the path shown by him.

In his special Gandhi Jayanti address that was first broadcast on All India Radio and then telecast on Doordarshan, Siddaramaiah vowed to follow guidelines set by Gandhi to first Prime Minister Pandit Nehru on rural development and communal harmony.

Rattled by a sudden spurt in farmers' suicides, Siddaramaiah had made first such address to the state on radio on July 18.

Greeting the people on Gandhi Jayanti, he reminded them that Karnataka was the first state to implement Gandhi's pet project of 'Panchayat Raj'.

Stating that his government has formulated a 21 point programme for rural development, Siddaramaiah said "following in the footsteps of Gandhi in his vision for clean villages, Karnataka has set an example to the rest of the country."

He said "Karnataka is number one in setting up of personal toilets. We have set unique example of setting up of bathroom cum toilets in villages. We have been working efficiently in trying to provide clean drinking water."

Siddaraamiah also drew a parallel between Gandhi's dream of creating hunger free India with his government's 'Anna Bhagya' (scheme to provide rice at Re one a kg to the poor).

He also listed out various initiatives taken by his government for the upliftment of the downtrodden, farmer development, creating economic equality, and women empowerment among others.