BANGALORE: The State Government must draw up a special economic, social and cultural package for the 52 taluks on the borders of the State, post Kannadiga officials to these places and give them incentives to ensure that everything is done to make the people of these areas feel secure and that the State Government responds to their needs, the Bharatiya Janata Party MLC `Mukhyamantri' Chandru has said.

Speaking to presspersons after a three-week `jagruthi jatha' organised by eminent writers, intellectuals, academics and cultural activist in these areas, Mr. Chandru said the awareness programme, which saw a dialogue between Kannadigas living in these areas and the organisers, brought out several startling revelations that needed to be addressed immediately.

"Otherwise, there is the possibility of these people feeling abandoned and that will make them vulnerable to `cultural assault' from the neighbouring States, which are trying to stake claims to different parts of the State," Mr. Chandru said.

The activists found that Kannada-medium schools in these taluks were without teachers and infrastructure. If Kolar was slowly accommodating Telugu influences and jettisoning its Kannada connections in terms of music and the arts, in Raichur, poor people were working as farm labourers on land they once owned, now sold to affluent buyers from Andhra Pradesh, he said.

In Kodagu, Kerala was laying claim to hundreds of acres of forest land, while Tamil Nadu had hit upon a clever method to wean people away from Karnataka through accelerated industrial development in border areas, like Hosur, where people were given jobs only if they learned the local language.

Mr. Chandru demanded that apart from making the legislature session in Belgaum an annual affair, the Government should complete the construction of a Vikasa Soudha there within a year. The Government should recognise the importance of the Kannada and Culture Department and immediately appoint a Cabinet-rank Minister exclusively for this department. The Government should take steps to implement the Kannada language policy, especially in administration, and punish those who violate this rule.

Industrial decentralisation should be immediately initiated and incentives given to those setting up industries in the border areas, he said.

The former Minister B.T. Lalitha Naik, who is also a writer, and had taken part in the jatha, said it was tragic that people of Pavagada in Tumkur district were being identified by their fluorosis-ravaged bodies and not for their achievements in various fields. "Everywhere we went, people wanted schools, clean water and food security. Neither Karnataka nor the bordering State (Andhra Pradesh) wants to do anything for them," she said.

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