Bengaluru: While several disagreements and protests have dogged the H.D. Kumaraswamy government in Karnataka after it announced its Cabinet of Ministers, this appointment is probably something everyone will agree with. Breaking tradition, Kumaraswamy has said that he has appointed Infosys Founder N.R. Narayana Murthy as the Head of Karnataka Planning Board.

The Board is a Constitutional body and the Chief Minister is its Chairman. Some of the functions of the Board include assessing resources and formulating plans for overall development of the State, besides monitoring progress of plan implementation.

Murthy would be the first technocrat to Head the Board in the State and the first professional in the last 18 years. Of late, the appointments are being made on political considerations. Former Union Minister C.M. Ibrahim was appointed as Deputy Chairman of the Board in the previous government. He did not chair a single meeting and hardly attended his office in Vidhana Soudha. The government too did not appoint any other Board Member.

Explaining that Murthy’s appointment will help build the government’s image and also bring in a lot of foreign investors to the State, Kumaraswamy told reporters that this was the motive behind their June 6 meeting at Murthy’s Jayanagar home.

Kumaraswamy will continue in the role of the Chairman of the Board but he intends to get a few other experts on Board for better planning and implementation, which in turn will result in the overall development of State.

With this, Murthy will not be just another Adviser to the government but will be at a higher position. The Karnataka government is even considering upgrading the position of the Deputy Chairman, which will ensure that Murthy gets a Cabinet rank and is not just a State Minister.

Murthy has often opined about the development of the city, which is growing at an extremely fast pace and needs quite a lot of planning to avoid issues in the future. And Kumaraswamy believes that Murthy’s ideas, expertise and experience is exactly what the city needs.

Murthy was the Chairman of the Bengaluru International Airport Ltd (2000-2005). He quit the position under controversial circumstances after former Prime Minister and JD(S) Supremo H.D. Deve Gowda questioned his contribution towards development of the airport after the technocrat questioned the commitment of Congress-JD(S) coalition government towards tech companies.

Both Gowda and Murthy have buried their differences and have been on good terms for the last few years. In fact, Kumaraswamy had several meetings with Murthy prior to Assembly polls.