Call made for Kalaburagi to become Karnataka’s second administrative capital

Karnataka should develop Kalaburagi as the State’s regional second capital and a second administrative centre, former Zilla Panchayat president Deepaknag Punneshetty has said. Addressing a press conference in Kalaburagi on Monday, Punneshetty said decentralising administrative activity was essential for the development of the Kalyana Karnataka region. He argued that placing Kalaburagi after Bengaluru in administrative importance would make government services more accessible.

Punneshetty called for the creation of a Kalyana Karnataka Praja Seva Soudha in Kalaburagi, modelled on the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru and the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi. He also urged the State government to hold the legislature’s monsoon session in Kalaburagi every year. According to him, holding legislative proceedings in the region would encourage greater discussion of local development needs and the concerns of people across Kalyana Karnataka.

He also proposed naming major government institutions, buildings and public infrastructure after leaders associated with the region’s progress in education, employment, irrigation, healthcare, social justice and public service. The names he suggested included AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, former Chief Ministers N. Dharam Singh and Veerendra Patil, and former Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Lingayat Mahasabha president Bheemanna Khandre.

Punneshetty welcomed 10 development missions announced by the State government under its Nava Kalyana Karnataka initiative during the Kalyana Karnataka Utsav in Kalaburagi on September 17. The measures include an economy mission, a bio-economy mission, an anaemia-free campaign, district infrastructure development, 50,000 house sites, an IT Park, an artificial-intelligence-based CCTV network, tourism and heritage development, and a 10-crore tree-planting campaign. He said the government should ensure their effective and time-bound implementation.