Bengaluru: The Karnataka government will introduce several initiatives to mark the birth centenary of former chief minister late Ramakrishna Hegde, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said.
Speaking at a programme held at the Vidhana Soudha Banquet Hall in the presence of Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan, Shivakumar said the government has decided to name a medical college in Uttara Kannada and a major road in Bengaluru’s Shivarama Karantha Layout after Hegde.
To recognise Hegde’s contribution to rural administration and the Panchayat Raj system, the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department has been asked to formulate a scheme for the ‘Ramakrishna Hegde Best Panchayat Award’.
The award will be presented every year to the best-performing Panchayat on Hegde’s birth anniversary, Shivakumar said.
Describing Hegde as a leader who nurtured political leadership from the Panchayat level to Parliament, Shivakumar said Karnataka’s experiments in Panchayat Raj later served as an inspiration for the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments.
He said Hegde championed value-based politics and social justice rather than limiting politics to caste considerations. Hegde viewed power not as a symbol of authority but as an opportunity to serve people, Shivakumar said.
The Deputy Chief Minister also credited Hegde-era policies with contributing to the expansion of medical and engineering education in Karnataka and creating conditions for the growth of private educational institutions.
The state government, he said, is committed to carrying forward Hegde’s ideas on value-based politics, rural development and public service.