‘We must overcome trust-deficit and religious issues’ | interview with MLA Dr Bharath Shetty

Atul Pai | coastaldigest.com
July 3, 2018

Dentist-turned-politician Dr Y Bharath Shetty, who wrestled the Mangaluru City North constituency from Congress leader B A Mohiuddin Bava in 2018 Karnataka Assembly polls, feels that police should be given a free hand to keep a check on communal tensions in coastal Karnataka. The enthusiastic first time MLA, in a candid chat with coastaldigest.com, also elaborates his plan for the constituency. Excerpts:

Do you have any timeline in mind to deliver your promises in the electoral manifesto?

Bharath Shetty: I am focusing on the education system, especially the government schools. There are around 20 schools in the rural areas and we are surveying to understand their needs on emergency basis. We are planning to improve the road connectivity to these schools and also upgrade the school buildings that rarely happen. We will coordinate with private firms and encourage them to use their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds for bettering the school infrastructure, few of them have agreed orally and simultaneously we are also getting onboard with school authorities for such discussions.

Secondly, there are a lot of companies here such as Baikampady Industrial Area, Mangalore Refinery Petroleum Ltd (MRPL) and New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT), but very less employment opportunity for the locals. We are trying to talk to them to start some vocation courses in our constituency and train people for skilled or non-skilled courses under Skill-India programme and get them work opportunities in the industrial area. We are targeting especially youngsters’ so that they can get job opportunity in the firms within the constituency.

What are your comments on the current political scenario in the state?

Bharath Shetty: People’s mandate is the ultimate verdict, there is certain kind of maturity needed in politics; At present Congress-JD(S) alliance has just become a number game. The mandate is clearly against the former (Congress) government, even the JD(S) has got lesser assembly seats during the polls and the BJP has people’s approval. So it’s not right (to form the government).

Do you feel that it will be difficult for you to work with the present state government; do you think it will be indifferent towards the coastal district?

Bharath Shetty: I hope it won’t be a problem.

In the entire coastal district the BJP had a decisive victory, compared to the 2013 assembly polls. What do you think was the major factor that swung votes in favor of the BJP?

Bharath Shetty: We enjoyed a majority in the district even in former elections as well (except 2013), but most importantly it was the anti-Hindu policy of the former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that secured us people approval in 2018. Congress went overboard with anti-Hindu policies and I don’t think people took it nicely. Moreover there was a lot of corruption all round, a percentage (kickback) was fixed for every public work by Congress. Also people in the region could see through the appeasement politics, and may be one of the main factors they lost.

Since you have taken over from a former Congress MLA’s constituency, do you think that you have lot of challenges that are waiting in your assembly limits to be solved?

Bharath Shetty: I don’t want to take potshot at ex-MLA at personal level, but there was a lot of gimmickry going on instead of public work. The work should be done in a time bound manner; you can’t just pop-up some last minute public work (eve of election) and call it as a service. I don’t want to get into it. But a lot of unwanted, unhealthy practices took place. For example the deluge in Mangaluru during pre-monsoon rains, shows how the city planning is not properly done by the previous government. City faced flood was a showcase of previous legislators poor performance.

Any action plan in progress to prevent calamities during the monsoon in the region?

Bharath Shetty: We are in touch with the district administration and corporation commissioner regarding this issue, and we have been told that the last month’s flood was due to blockage of storm water drain, since permission was given to build houses and structures that obstructed the flow of water. Not only the city has issue of improper drainage, the width and depth of these drainages have no scientific basis and are constructed erratically. Some of the drainages have been filled-up and unauthorized structures have come-up over that.

The DC who is leading the probe has assured that MCC is already in the process of reclaiming the land where unauthorized structures were built and the drains will be bought back to the original size, because the recent flood looked like an artificial one, created due to unscientific obstacles.

There have been repeated communal incidents in Mangaluru North constituency as recently as January this year. Any measures will be taken by you to build the communal solidarity in the constituency?

Bharath Shetty: To keep a check on communal violence, the police force, security and the law and order should be fair. I think they should be given a free hand to work. Unless and until there are instances of wrongdoing by the police, politicians should not interfere, then everything will fall back in line. The department must not be used for vote-bank politics or appeasement of certain section, as this leads to a problem. Political interference should be minimal, the law and order should be fair enough and we must support good police officers.

What are the major overhauls that you plan for your constituency that requires legislative intervention you think?

Bharath Shetty: We have underground drainage in Surathkal which is not connected, and leading to water contamination. Crores of Rupees have been spent on this underground drainage, but so far no sustainable solution has been seen. We need to plan and have more number of underwater drainage systems so that twenty years down the line our future generation need not have any water-hygiene related issues. There is a need to focus on implementing more rain water harvesting initiatives to improve the ground water table.

I want to promote rain water harvesting, solar power, installing of the bio toilets and I have spoken to few companies regarding this and we will come to a decision soon.

Overall Mangaluru is known is known as the educational hub, with good train connectivity, airport, and sea-port; we have lot of potential to grow. However, we must overcome a lot of trust-deficit and religious issues that are faced among the communities and we definitely need to think beyond that for the welfare of our region as a whole.

Any ideas on making the constituency senior citizen friendly?

Bharath Shetty: Yes, we are taking stock of primary health centre and the facilities for senior citizens in such establishments. We want to provide them with necessary medical support and facilities such as ambulances, bike driven paramedical. I have personally spoken to some friends at World Health Organization (WHO) who have worked in such specialized areas in other countries and I am actively taking consultation with them. However, for implementation of these projects it requires a lot of funding from the state government, since it is the Congress-JDS rule in the state, they need to help us out on such proposals, otherwise we may have to look at some other source of funding.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
November 13,2024

voting.jpg

Bengaluru: An estimated overall 10.14 per cent voter turnout was recorded during the first two hours, since the voting began for bypolls to three Assembly segments in Karnataka on Wednesday, election officials said.

The voting began at 7 am and will go on till 6 pm.

More than seven lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes in about 770 polling stations in Shiggaon, Sandur and Channapatna, where a total of 45 candidates are in the fray.

While Channapatna recorded 10.34 per cent voter turnout till 9 am, it was 10.08 per cent in Shiggaon, and 9.99 per cent in Sandur, election officials said.

Voters, including women and elderly were seen queuing up in front of polling booths in these segments.

By-polls for Sandur, Shiggaon, and Channapatna are necessitated, as the seats fell vacant following the election of their respective representatives -- E Tukaram of Congress, former CM Basavaraj Bommai of BJP, and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy of JD(S) -- to Lok Sabha in May elections.

As many as 31 candidates are in the fray from Channapatna, while Sandur and Shiggaon have six and eight contenders, respectively.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made in the three segments for the smooth conduct of the polls.

The by-polls will witness a straight fight between the ruling Congress and BJP in Sandur and Shiggaon segments, while in Channapatna, JD(S) which is part of the NDA alliance is in contest against the grand old party.

Among the three segments, Channapatna is considered to be a "high profile", where the contest is between C P Yogeeshwara, a five time MLA from the segment and former Minister, who joined the Congress quitting BJP ahead of nomination, and actor-turned -politician Nikhil Kumaraswamy, who is Kumaraswamy’s son and former PM H D Deve Gowda's grandson.

BJP's Bharath Bommai, son of Basavaraj Bommai, is fighting Congress Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan, who had faced defeat against the former Chief Minister in the 2023 Assembly polls, in Shiggaon.

Bharath Bommai and his father cast their vote at a polling booth in Shiggaon segment.

In Sandur, Bellary MP Tukaram's wife E Annapurna of Congress is contesting from the seat vacated by her husband, against, BJP ST Morcha president Bangaru Hanumanthu, who is considered close to party leader and former mining barron G Janardhan Reddy.

Annapurna, Tukaram and other family members cast their votes at a booth in the segment.

With Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Bharath Bommai contesting, the third generation of Gowda and Bommai families are in the fray in this by-poll. Both their fathers and grandfathers have served as Karnataka's Chief Ministers in the past.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
November 3,2024

guru.jpg

Bengaluru, Nov 3: In a heart-wrenching discovery, acclaimed Kannada film director Guruprasad, celebrated for his impactful films like Mata and Yeddelu Manjunatha, was found dead in a Bengaluru apartment on Sunday. 

The 52-year-old filmmaker, known for his work with deep social messages, is believed to have died two days prior in a suspected case of suicide, although authorities are still investigating to confirm the exact cause.

The decomposing body was discovered hanging from a ceiling fan in a flat in Madanayakanahalli after neighbors alerted the police due to a strong odor. Bengaluru Rural Superintendent of Police CK Baba confirmed the incident, stating that an investigation is underway. A team from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) joined the police at the scene to gather evidence.

Guruprasad, a respected figure in Kannada cinema, directed thought-provoking films such as Yeradanesala and Director Special and had also appeared in small roles in more than ten films. The film industry mourns the loss of a director who used cinema as a platform for social awareness.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
November 13,2024

evehicle.jpg

In the heart of Mangaluru, where rising air pollution is spurring public health worries, voices are calling for a greener, cleaner shift in the city’s public transport. Leading this call is APD Foundation, a Mangaluru-based environmental NGO, which has urged Forest, Ecology, and Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre to mandate electric vehicle (EV) adoption in public transport.

Abdullah A Rehman, CEO of APD Foundation, emphasized in a formal letter to the minister that Mangaluru’s public transportation system—efficient and organized with both government and private players—could transition smoothly to EVs in stages. He suggested that government-backed financial incentives, partnerships with EV manufacturers, and collaborations with environmental groups could streamline the switch.

Rehman stressed the potential of EVs to cut down emissions, enhance air quality, and reduce noise levels, noting the quieter operation of electric buses. He confirmed that a copy of his letter was submitted to the Deputy Commissioner as well.

However, Dilraj Alva from the Dakshina Kannada City Bus Association noted potential challenges, explaining that the shift might take up to two years due to infrastructure and budget hurdles. Most EV buses, he explained, are procured through aggregators, not directly by individual operators. The addition of charging stations and other essential infrastructure further complicates the transition.

Alva also raised the economic concern: while diesel buses are priced between ₹30-40 lakh, electric buses can cost up to ₹1 crore. Reflecting on recent meetings with companies, including one in Manipal, he questioned the assumption that EVs are an absolute solution to pollution. “EVs aren’t entirely eco-friendly, especially when considering battery disposal,” he cautioned.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.