Improvement in amenities tops the list

Improvement in amenities tops the list

Sharath S. Srivatsa and Vikhar Ahmed Sayeed

BANGALORE: Improvement in civic amenities in their various constituencies tops the priority list of several of the newly elected MLAs from Bangalore city.

The Hindu spoke to a cross-section of MLAs across the parties to find out what were some of the main issues they were going to address now that the voters had reposed their faith in them.

Three-time MLA from Rajajinagar, S. Suresh Kumar of the BJP, said: “Bangalore has overwhelmingly supported the BJP and it is the BJP’s turn to pay back the residents of Bangalore”. In his own constituency he intends to secure possession certificates (hakkupatra) for 3,000 to 4,000 families who live in slums and semi-slums in Kamakshipalya and Basaveshwaranagar.

Three former ministers belonging to the Congress — Roshan Baig (Shivajinagar), V. Somanna (Govindrajnagar) and K. J. George (Sarvagnanagar) — have their priorities laid out. Mr. Baig wants to modernise the Bowring Hospital. “There are no ventilators in the hospital and departments such as urology and cardiology need to be upgraded,” he told The Hindu. He is also keen to increase the number of categories of beneficiaries under the Karnataka Construction Workers’ Bill from 36 to 67 so that workers in the unorganised sector benefit from the Act.

V. Somanna wants to work towards improving the civic amenities in his area while K.J. George wants to increase the frequency of buses at Kammanahalli and improve the efficiency in distribution of ration cards and old age pensions apart from changing pipelines to improve drainage facilities in the area.