NRIs present a strong case for Hubli-Dharwad

NRIs present a strong case for Hubli-Dharwad

From Sachin Mellegatti DH News Service Hubli:

The issue of excluding Hubli-Dharwad cities from the list of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission is not only being discussed in the State, but is also being debated world wide among the natives of these cities.

The natives of Hubli-Dharwad residing overseas have been making online representation to the President A P J Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy and Chief Minister H D Kumaaraswamy, requesting them to include Hubli-Dharwad in the JNNURM Project. They have been feeding their demands through the website: www.petitiononline.com/HDJNNURM/petition.html. Till now, more than 800 non-resident Indians of north Karnataka, have made their representations.

The central government announced the project in December 2005 aiming to provide funds to about 60 cities in the country The Centre has given its green signal to the project in March 2006. The Centre has recognised that the local self governments in cities are politically and financially weak and led to infrastructure bottlenecks and inadequacies. The project seeks to assist the selected cities to improve basic amenities such as drainage, waste disposal, congestion reduction, transportation and water resource management.


“We highly appreciate and respect the recommendations of Chief Minister Kumaaraswamy to include Hubli-Dharwad under the project. We also express our strong concern about the non-commitment of the ministers to this effect. Hubli-Dharwad now stands to lose a whopping Rs 500 crores of development funds over the next seven years,” the NRIs have said in the website.

They have stated that this is yet another case of injustice carried out by the bureaucracy, which seems to have defied the political leadership to favour one city over the other. Successive governments in the state have neglected regions outside Bangalore-Mysore belt.

However, putting in context the neglect and injustice meted out to north Karnataka in general, it is appropriate for the leaders of the region to step up efforts to secure funds for Hubli-Dharwad under JNNURM project.

“We certainly do not wish to turn this issue into a rivalry and ill-will between the cities in the state,” they opine.