Mangaluru: The Karnataka Government’s decision to set up a Maratha Development Board (renamed to Maratha Community Development Corporation) has ruffled the feathers of many communities across the state, some of whom have been demanding that the state rescind its decision while others are demanding development authorities for themselves. On Friday, November 27, Congress leader and MLC B K Hariprasad demanded that the state government form a development board for the Tulu and Kodava communities.
Speaking at a press meet at the Congress Bhavan in Mallikatta on Friday, Hariprasad questioned why the Cheif Minister has neglected the Tulu and Kodava languages which belong to Karnataka. “Many eminent people from the Tulu and Kodava communities have contributed tremendously to the development of the state. Therefore, the CM and the Karnataka government should form development authorities for these languages as well,” he said.
It can be recalled that Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had clarified that the MCDC is being set up for the development of the Maratha community and not the Marathi language.
“The formation of the Maratha Development Board and inclusion of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) list seems like a joke and political suicide. The Indian Constitution provides reservation for socially weaker sections of society for their development,” Hariprasad added.
Accusing the BJP of trying to implement its own agenda of doing away with reservations for the weaker sections of the country, Hariprasad said, “Reservations for SC/ST and OBC class were given for their upliftment. I urge Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide reservations on the basis of population and not on the basis of caste.”
Congress leaders Abdul Rauf Harish Kumar, Sashidhar Hegde, Suresh Shetty, Vishwas Kumar Das, and Subodh Alva were present.
