Flood-hit Farmers: Who Cares!

Not Mr Yeddyurappa for sure: Those who want to shift will go, says Yeddyurappa. Those who don't want to, won't.

This is about the houses constructed for the last year's flood-affected farmers in North Karnataka. They are reluctant to move in since the construction is substandard and the houses are not exactly as per their requirements. If one looks at the images of houses built under the Asare scheme, indeed, they look like cubby holes more than anything else.

For a guy who cries at the drop of a hat or the sight of a mike/TV camera, Yeddyurappa sure has a steely heart.

More Incredible India

From the Hindu: Those who society forgot live in horrendous conditions. Horrendous is exactly right. Why does the government run the rehabilitation centre if they can't provide even a clean place?

Yeddyurappa had visited the centre in 2009 and was so moved by their plight that he wanted to shift them to a faraway location. He had given a month's time for things to be improved and promised to monitor the situation there after that visit. Wonder what he will do now? 159 acres of prime land worth Rs 1000-crore. How many have their eye on that land?

In a gruesome juxtaposition, the Hindu carries the following headline just below the above article in the paper version: Ashok: trial run of Mercedes buses in Bangalore soon.

Update: Govt to grab beggars’ land. The CM visits the colony in May 2009. In July 2009 the government tries to take over the entire 161 acres. The State Law Ministry objects since the land was originally given solely for destitute rehabilitation it can't be now diverted to other uses. And now, it turns out that around the time of the recent tragic deaths, the government was busy issuing an order to acquire 123 acres of the 161 acres for 'development'. This single-minded devotion to land-deals is sickening. Are these democratically elected representatives of the people, or blood-sucking vampires?

Movement

The CM visits the Beggars Colony in the city and which ultimately results in headline from DH:

Plight of beggars in colony moves CM

So one expects a lot of sympathy and a firm commitment to help improve the plight of the people in the colony. Instead one realises that the CM was so moved that all he could think of was to move the colony to some other, "better", place:

The government is now contemplating to shift the Colony to a new location, a better place. The Chief Minister has now proposed to shift the Beggars’ Colony and establish a ‘Mini-Lalbagh’ along with a government hospital on a five acre land in the location.

“Being in the centre of the City and worth around Rs 1,000 crore, the land can be used for various purposes. This would be decided in the next Cabinet meeting,” he said.

Land worth Rs 1000 crores! The possibilities are endless and the imagination goes wild. Will be interesting to see how and to whom they sell it off.