NRIs on e-crusade for JNNURM
MANU AIYAPPA - TIMES NEWS NETWORK
11 Oct, 2006 2320hrs IST
HUBLI: The campaign to demand the inclusion of Hubli-Dharwad under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) received a shot in the arm with some Non-Resident Indians now joining the crusade.
Some natives of Hubli-Dharwad residing overseas have volunteered to launch a chain of protest by observing a day-long fast to express their solidarity, to insist that the Union government include the twin-cities under JNNURM.
Nagesh Tavarageri, a resident of Cerritos in USA, who initiated this e-movement through a group website, observed the token hunger strike on Tuesday.
Informing this to The Times of India over phone from the US, Tavarageri said: "The goal of this group is to unite and send a strong signal to the Karnataka and Union governments that we too are concerned about the development of our hometown Hubli-Dharwad."
Already, hundreds of natives of Hubli-Dharwad residing overseas have made online representations (www.petitiononline.com/HDJNNURM/petition.html) to President A P J Abdul Kalam, prime minister Manmohan Singh, Union urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy and chief minister H D Kumaraswamy.
Prabhuraj Ginimav of UK, Jayaraghavan of Angola in Africa, Sanjay Mundergi, USA, Lingappa Kalburgi, Auckland, New Zealand, and Praveen Karadiguddi Manchester, UK, and a host of Indians have volunteered to take part in the e-movement.
"This is just the beginning. If needed, we would do more to ensure that the Hubli-Dharwad is included under JNNURM,"said an e-mail from an NRI settled in UK. Highlighting the importance of the project and the movement, the NRIs said JNNURM is the single largest central government initiative in the urban sector, aimed at improving the quality of life in cities and towns across the country. It has made provision for Rs 50,000 crore for a period of seven years.
The JNNURM will extend to 63 cities, including those with a population of above a million, all state capitals and other cities considered important from religious, historical and tourist point of view.
Under the scheme, cities had been classified into three categories. A steering committee headed by the Union minister of urban development was constituted to finalise the list of the cities to be taken up under the mission.
The committee first took up the issue with the then chief minister Dharam Singh and the then minister for urban development S R Morey (both hailing from North Karnataka) and appealed to them to include Hubli-Dharwad in the list, as the state governments were given powers to change the cities to be taken up under the scheme.
Initially, they responded and sent a letter on November 29, 2005, requesting them to include the twincities under the scheme.
But bowing to political pressure, Dharam Singh again wrote a letter on December 7, 2005, to the Union government urging him to include Hubli-Dharwad and Gulbarga along with Mysore.
This virtually spoiled the show as the guidelines of the mission clearly stated that only one city should be recommended under the C category.
Singh deliberately overlooked them and as a result, the steering committee decided to go by the initial list. This attracted widespread protest from various quarters even as everyone rued the decision of the previous Congress-led government.
As a damage control exercise, AICC chief Sonia Gandhi during her visit to Bangalore recently, assured the people of Karnataka that Hubli-Dharwad would be included under JNNRUM once again, reviving the hopes of residents here
MANU AIYAPPA - TIMES NEWS NETWORK
11 Oct, 2006 2320hrs IST
HUBLI: The campaign to demand the inclusion of Hubli-Dharwad under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) received a shot in the arm with some Non-Resident Indians now joining the crusade.
Some natives of Hubli-Dharwad residing overseas have volunteered to launch a chain of protest by observing a day-long fast to express their solidarity, to insist that the Union government include the twin-cities under JNNURM.
Nagesh Tavarageri, a resident of Cerritos in USA, who initiated this e-movement through a group website, observed the token hunger strike on Tuesday.
Informing this to The Times of India over phone from the US, Tavarageri said: "The goal of this group is to unite and send a strong signal to the Karnataka and Union governments that we too are concerned about the development of our hometown Hubli-Dharwad."
Already, hundreds of natives of Hubli-Dharwad residing overseas have made online representations (www.petitiononline.com/HDJNNURM/petition.html) to President A P J Abdul Kalam, prime minister Manmohan Singh, Union urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy and chief minister H D Kumaraswamy.
Prabhuraj Ginimav of UK, Jayaraghavan of Angola in Africa, Sanjay Mundergi, USA, Lingappa Kalburgi, Auckland, New Zealand, and Praveen Karadiguddi Manchester, UK, and a host of Indians have volunteered to take part in the e-movement.
"This is just the beginning. If needed, we would do more to ensure that the Hubli-Dharwad is included under JNNURM,"said an e-mail from an NRI settled in UK. Highlighting the importance of the project and the movement, the NRIs said JNNURM is the single largest central government initiative in the urban sector, aimed at improving the quality of life in cities and towns across the country. It has made provision for Rs 50,000 crore for a period of seven years.
The JNNURM will extend to 63 cities, including those with a population of above a million, all state capitals and other cities considered important from religious, historical and tourist point of view.
Under the scheme, cities had been classified into three categories. A steering committee headed by the Union minister of urban development was constituted to finalise the list of the cities to be taken up under the mission.
The committee first took up the issue with the then chief minister Dharam Singh and the then minister for urban development S R Morey (both hailing from North Karnataka) and appealed to them to include Hubli-Dharwad in the list, as the state governments were given powers to change the cities to be taken up under the scheme.
Initially, they responded and sent a letter on November 29, 2005, requesting them to include the twincities under the scheme.
But bowing to political pressure, Dharam Singh again wrote a letter on December 7, 2005, to the Union government urging him to include Hubli-Dharwad and Gulbarga along with Mysore.
This virtually spoiled the show as the guidelines of the mission clearly stated that only one city should be recommended under the C category.
Singh deliberately overlooked them and as a result, the steering committee decided to go by the initial list. This attracted widespread protest from various quarters even as everyone rued the decision of the previous Congress-led government.
As a damage control exercise, AICC chief Sonia Gandhi during her visit to Bangalore recently, assured the people of Karnataka that Hubli-Dharwad would be included under JNNRUM once again, reviving the hopes of residents here
