Sunil Kumar demands white paper on measures taken to address regional imbalance

Expressing concern over 177 taluks in the State still being identified as “backward” despite the State government spending thousands of crores of rupees on removing regional imbalance, BJP member V. Sunil Kumar has demanded that the government should come out with a white paper on the implementation of the Dr. Nanjundappa Committee Report that had been submitted in 2002.

Raising the issue during the debate on the State Budget in the Assembly on Monday (March 23), Mr. Kumar observed that the present committee, led by economist Govind Rao, had pointed out that 177 taluks are backward. “This is a cause for concern as these many taluks have remained backward despite the government spending about ₹20,000 crore as per the recommendations of the Nanjundappa Committee, which had earlier identified 114 taluks as backward. This needs a wider debate,” he said.

The Govind Rao committee had recommended that ₹43,000 crore be allocated to ensure the development of backward taluks. But the State Budget presented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has not made allocations in this regard, he pointed out, asking how these backward taluks would see development if there is no allocation of funds.

Caste survey

Taking exception to the State Budget not mentioning anything about the latest caste survey report, Mr. Kumar questioned Mr. Siddaramaiah’s commitment to implementing the report as promised by him, and suspected that it too could be dumped like the previous report.

“Despite completing the caste census in a hurry by October 31, 2025, at a cost of ₹500 crore, there is no further indication on when the report will be ready,” he said.

Taking a jibe at the Chief Minister, he said, “Mr. Siddaramaiah cannot become another Devaraj Urs (the legendary former Chief Minister known as a champion for backward classes) just by overtaking him in terms of longevity of tenure.”

Expressing displeasure over how the government has handled the issue of internal reservation among Scheduled Castes, he remarked that the fire of anguish among these oppressed communities will burn the government.