Amendment on the anvil to reserve land for poor

Mysore, May 4: A new amendment will be brought in soon to provide for reserving ten per cent of land in Karnataka to the weaker sections of the society, Housing Minister D T Jayakumar announced today.

Addressing mediapersons here, he said the process of amending the rules had begun and the draft would be placed before the Cabinet soon for its approval. The new rule would bring corporations, municipalities, urban development authorities and even private layouts under its purview and land would be allotted to the poor at a nominal charge.

Stating that Karnataka was hoping to become a slum-free State by 2015, Mr Jayakumar said a project for providing houses to slum dwellers would be taken up with private participation on a pilot basis in Bangalore.

To commemorate the golden jubilee of the State's formation, the Karnataka Government would raise model villages in 202 Assembly constituencies in the State and the project would be extended to other villages at a later stage, he said.

Mr Jayakumar said an action plan had been submitted to the Centre to develop this historic city as a tourist destination as part of a national project. The final report for the Rs 50 crore project would be submitted to the Union Tourism Ministry for release of funds.

He said a master plan would be prepared within a month by the city Corporation and Mysore Urban Development Authority officials for the overall development of the city. A meeting of officials, experts and non-Government organisations in the city would be called within the next ten days to elicit their views.

The Government proposed to conduct two or three days package tours to Mysore and surrounding areas, which had good tourism potential, he said, adding that the sound and light show at the famous Mysore palace would be opened and the foundation stone for the ropeway to Chamundi hills laid shortly.

Earlier, the Minister held a review meeting at the city Corporation and instructed the officials concerned to provide drinking water properly and take necessary steps to clean the city.

UNI