Mysuru: The State-wide public consultation exercise to prepare Vision 2025 document began in city this morning. Titled ‘Vinoothana Nava Karnataka Vision 2025’, the exercise aims at shaping or incorporating the voices of people about their “dream State” over the next seven years.

The exercise has already been held in six districts and today it is being held in Mysuru and Davanagere. In Mysuru, it was inaugurated by District In-charge Minister Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa at Zilla Panchayat Hall. All 30 districts will be covered and the government aims to capture the expectations of every stakeholder in the State’s development blueprint.

Renuka Chidambaram, Principal Secretary and CEO of ‘Vinoothana Nava Karnataka Vision 2025’, Deputy Commissioner D. Randeep, ZP President Nayeema Sulthana, CEO P. Shivashankar, Superintendent of Police Ravi D. Channannavar and a host of officers from various departments were present.

Addressing the gathering, Dr. Mahadevappa said that the Vision document will be an echo of the public voice. “It will be our motto and commitment of the government. All sectors, including agriculture, infrastructure, education, employment and skill development, health and nutrition, rural development, social justice and empowerment, urban development, IT&BT, governance and law and order would be addressed in the vision document,” he said.

The State government proposes to leverage the reach of interactive digital media, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, backed by a website designed to connect and engage with the youth of the State, he added.

CEO SPEAKS

The State-wide public consultation exercise to prepare the Vision 2025 document is meant only to set achievements for the year 2025 and not to prepare the manifesto of any political party, said Renuka Chidambaram, the CEO of Nava Karnataka Vision 2025.

The document will be ready by the end of December and will be made public. It could be utilised by the present and future governments or research students or anybody interested in the growth of the State in the next seven years,” Renuka Chidambaram said.

“It will cover the aspirations of the people and will be a top-to-down and a down-to-top approach where the aspirations of the people will be recorded,” she explained.

She said, “We are not taking opinions or suggestions on road repairs or drinking water problems or power problems, which will be handled at the district-level by officers. We are preparing the document for the State with a vision. Through the consultations, we may arrive at stopping school dropout cases completely by 2025. No matter who comes to power in the future, they cannot ignore that point.”

The suggestions collected during consultations would be reviewed by a Committee headed by Development Commissioner T.M. Vijay Bhaskar. The Committee includes Secretaries of all Departments. Later, the State Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Siddharamaiah would take the final call. “We hope the exercise will be completed by the end of December. As of now, the work is going on as per schedule. The district-level consultations will be completed in a month,” the officer said.

HOW WILL MYSURU BENEFIT FROM VISION 2025 ?

Five focus areas of the project have been identified in Mysuru. Each focus area has a 20-member team that is headed by a special officer who will present the skeletal plan for development.

Urban Basic Infrastructure or Smart City: Mysuru City Corporation Commissioner G. Jagadeesha.

Social Justice, Health and Education: Social Welfare Department Deputy Director B.S. Prabha.

Agriculture and Rural Development: Agriculture Department Joint Director K.M. Somasunder.

Industrial Development, Services, Job Opportunities, Skill Development and Information & Communication Technology: District Industries Centre Jt. Director H. Ramakrishnegowda.

Administration, Law and Justice: Superintendent of Police Ravi D. Channannavar.

Public can also present and share ideas and vision for the development of Karnataka via  email: [email protected]