Bengaluru: Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj H.K. Patil said the state government requires Rs. 11.361 crore for relaying asphalted roads and Rs. 8.082 crore for maintenance of the 1,77,542 km of rural roads in the State for the next 10 years, and the State will press for 50% contribution from the Centre for this.
Addressing presspersons here on Friday, the Minister said the Centre, except for funds given under the Prime Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojane, does not have a separate allocation for rural roads. In the wake of this, a committee had been set up to recommend and formulate the Rural Road policy. The committee drafted the policy after studying the model adopted by Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu.
The Minister appealed to the agitating farmers, who are on hunger strike in Nargund demanding that the government take steps to implement the Kalasa-Banduri Nala irrigation project, to withdraw their protest.
The State government is committed towards resolving the dispute, he said. “We are doing our best for an out-of-court settlement through negotiations between Goa, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. A delegation from the State has already met the Prime Minister, and if required, we will meet him again,” he said.
