Chief Minister on Wednesday announced plans to build an international airport in Tumakuru district to decongest air traffic at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru.
Addressing a Jana Sankalpa Yatre rally in Kunigal, Bommai said, “The proposed international airport in Tumakuru will reduce the congestion in Bengaluru airport and would provide the impetus to growth in the district.”
Emphasis has been laid on developing Tumakuru into an industrial hub. An industrial township will be developed on over 1,000 acres in the district. This will help generate jobs and provide a major boost to economic growth, Bommai said.
Taking a dig at the Congress, Bommai said, “The previous Congress government rendered Lokayukta institution toothless by establishing ACB and made sure cases against its leaders were closed with B reports. They looted in the name of Anna Bhagya Yojane. Now, they are chanting 40% commission mantra against our government. The ‘Congress is Gangotri of corruption’,” the CM charged.
‘Free eye treatment’
In a big announcement, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said the government had formulated a scheme for the benefit of elderly persons under which, free eye check-up and vision correction procedures will be provided for persons aged 60 and above.
This scheme will be launched in January next year, he said while inaugurating the Narayana Nethralaya free eye clinic at Shettihalli in the district.
The chief minister urged Dr Bhujang Shetty to spearhead the programme.
Karnataka will be the first state in the country to offer free treatment for the poor. A Rs 500 crore scheme has been chalked out for implants for the hearing impaired.
The dialysis cycle has been increased from 30,000 to 60,000, and the chemotherapy cycle has been doubled by opening 12 new centers for cancer treatment. Directions have been issued to hold the general medical check-up camps in every taluk and district, he said.