Boseraju is the go to person for Congress whenever there is a crisis in the party especially in Kalyana-Karnataka region and Telangana.
Minister for Minor Irrigation and Science and Technology NS Boseraju. (Supplied)
Karnataka Minister for Minor Irrigation and Science and Technology, NS Boseraju is renowned for his strategic and organisational skills in Congress, of which he is a part of since 1980s.
In his career spanning over four-decade, Boseraju — also leader of the Karnataka Legislative Council — has served at various capacities in the government and party. He represented Manvi assembly constituency twice – in 1999 and 2004. He is serving a third term as member of the Legislative Council.
Boseraju also served as the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary for Telangana. He was the Chief Minister’s political secretary when late Dharam Singh was at the helm. He also served as the chairman of Kalyana Karnataka Regional Development Board.
Whenever there is a crisis in the party, especially in Kalyana-Karnataka region and Telangana, Boseraju is the go to man for the grand-old-party leadership to mitigate the dissent within the cadre. He played a key role in resolving dissent during the 2023 Telangana assembly polls.
The ‘reward’ for his contributions came when Congress high command sprung a surprise and offered him a ministerial berth in the Siddaramaiah cabinet. Boseraju is also the district-in charge of Kodagu.
In an exclusive conversation with South First, Boseraju spoke about the government’s performance, minor irrigation works, KC and HN Valley project, K-K region development and more. Excerpts from the interview:
How do you rate Congress-led government after a year in power?
Whatever guarantees that Karnataka Congress announced before the elections have been brought into the budget. Various departments are working to implement these guarantees. One budget year has been satisfactorily completed and whatever assurances we gave are being continued and grants are being released as per budget provisions.
Things are moving in a positive manner and people are happy. Siddaramaiah government has satisfactorily completed one year without any alarming issues.
The only thing that affected us was the drought last year. The central government had a lot of problems with us. We staged a protest at Jantar Mantar over fiscal disparity. Due to unavoidable circumstances, we were compelled to approach the Supreme Court (seeking drought relief grants from the centre), which gave directions in our favour.
As per the NDRF guidelines, we demanded ₹18,236 crore. But they have given only ₹3,452 crore. Likewise, there is a lot of discrimination from the Centre towards Karnataka. That is the main issue. Whatever shares we have to get from the Centre in the federal structure, we haven’t been receiving them in the past year.
For instance, with regard to the minor irrigation department, a lot of proposals are pending before the Ministry of Jal Shakti. Some proposals related to Cauvery are also pending. Last year, they had replied that they would not be able to honour our demands due to fund constraints. This is the situation we are facing with the Union government. Nevertheless, our government is making sincere efforts to keep up the promises.
Your government has recently hiked fuel prices. Are your poll guarantees draining resources?
It is for the first time in the country that any government has given such a guarantee scheme. In the very first cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister and the Deputy CM made decisions to notify all the five guarantees. We launched all the guarantees, starting with the Shakti scheme on 11 June. Likewise, all the remaining four guarantees were implemented.
In the last eight months, the government has spent ₹36,000 crore for guarantees. This fiscal year, the government has allocated ₹56,000 crore. It is clearly shown in the budget. If there were financial constraints, these grants would have been reduced. We have not done it. There are no fiscal problems.
PM Narendra Modi had claimed that our government will go bankrupt if these guarantees are implemented. We have successfully completed one year without any hurdles. We are well within the guidelines of the finance department, Reserve Bank of India and the Central government.
With regard to the departments, the government has given more grants to these departments than the previous governments. We are giving telescopes to nearly 1,000 residential schools. We are also constructing the Science city in Bengaluru. There are proposals to set-up Science centres in various districts including Mysuru. We have approved the required budget. Without money, how can we give grants for these projects? The Finance Department is fully supporting us with the grants.
Farmers in Chikkaballapura and Kolar allege that KC and HN Valley projects have contaminated ground water and reduced yield. What measures is the government taking to address the concerns?
The sewage water of Bengaluru used to confluence with Cauvery River and flow to Mettur Dam. Elected representatives proposed to utilise this sewage water during Siddaramaiah’s previous regime. People used to dig borewells upto 2,000 ft for ground water in Chikkaballapur, Kolar and Bangalore Rural. Hence, they implemented this project to mitigate water issues in this region.
Now our government has taken up the Vrishabha Valley project, which is estimated around ₹1,800 crore, for Tumkuru, Nelamangala and other areas. All these three projects’ gross water capacity is 19tmc. BWSSB is treating the sewage water at two stages. This treated water is not recommended for direct usage by anybody. It is only aimed at increasing the ground water table.
People are earning huge profits by growing veggies and other crops. I have visited twice. Farmers are jubilant as they are getting ground water at 200ft now.
There are demands for tertiary treatment as well. They believe that if tertiary treatment is conducted, they can utilise it directly. Though it is something on CM’s mind too, it will take some more time because we have to spend a lot of money on that. If we implement this, there are high chances that we will not be able to supply the expected amount of water to farmers.
Farmers, particularly tail-enders, allege they are not receiving adequate water despite the presence of canals. How is this issue being addressed?
I will give an example about the Tungabhadra project in Kalyana Karnataka. It is a nearly 68-year-old project, which was designed for 133tmc for Karnataka and united Andhra Pradesh. This project irrigates nine lakh acres here and four lakh acres in the neighbouring state. It was mentioned at the time of construction that there will be silt accumulation around half tmc every year. The silt has swallowed 33tmc of storage capacity of the Tungabhadra reservoir.
In the early 1970s and 80s, the canal water was not utilised properly as the cultivation area was meager. Now, the farmers are more aware and cultivation has surged rapidly. Of the total available water, 91tmc is provided for the left bank canal which benefits Koppal and Raichur.
It aimed at irrigating six lakh acre. Unauthorised cultivation has increased on the left side, where the provision is only to irrigate on the right-side. Unofficially over 2 lakh acres are being cultivated and the upper region people are consuming more water.
The local district administration and several departments made efforts to curb it. Farmers started to turn up with poison tins. So, there are a lot of issues pertaining to this. There is also a similar situation across the state. There is a lot of demand for water, especially in the paddy cultivating region as they need more water for two crops in a year. We are not wasting a single drop of water be it in Krishna, Tungabhadra or Cauvery.
How serious is the state government about building a balancing reservoir over the Tungabhadra River at Navali in Koppal?
As of now only one balancing reservoir has been proposed. The increase in reservoirs will also lead to other problems. When I was the chairman of KKRDB, with no proposals, no government and officers, I built a balancing reservoir in a vast 1,633 acres in Ganekal when late Kumar Bangarappa was the Chief Minister. It is the main source of drinking water for the entire Raichur city and another 40 villages.
The detailed project report prepared by the state government will be submitted to the Tungabhadra Board. The board will refer the proposal to the secretaries. Then, they will verify the profits and losses. Once the concurrence is given, the project will take-off. We will also hold talks with the Chief Ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu has already promised, when he was previously at the helm, to cooperate with this project. The Telangana government is not a problem to us. We will convince them as our government is at the helm.
People of Kodagu, especially Codavas are expressing concerns over rampant commercialisation of their lands, leading to a threat to catchment areas of the Cauvery River. Is the government taking any measures to address it?
There are several problems. We have an environmental committee. If there is anything wrong then they will immediately bring it to the notice of the state government. The government is also serious about controlling pollution. It is a tourist hotspot. The matter is before the court. As soon as we get clearance from the court, we will take strict actions.
Despite the government allocating more than ₹3,000 crore annually for the KKRDB, why is this funding not being fully utilized for regional development?
The Chief Minister is serious about it and held three meetings so far with the ministers’ concerned and officials. As promised in the manifesto, the Chief Minister has allocated Rs 5,000 crore for the ongoing fiscal year. He gave strict directives to submit an action plan for all the budget before 15 July. We will submit it to the governor seeking his nod. We will get clearance and continue the development work in the K-K region.
Are you advocating for the establishment of an AIIMS there?
As per the Nanjundappa committee report, it had recommended Indian Institute of Technology for Raichur. It was taken away due to the influence of the BJP leaders. They deceived the people of Raichur. When we approached senior BJP leaders including BS Yediyurappa and Jagadish Shettar, they were assured of setting up AIIMS in Raichur.
It has been over 700 days since the protest over demanding AIIMS for Raichur is being held. They have promised us. Now, we are demanding it. We have also announced AIIMS for Raichur in our manifesto. The Chief Minister and other ministers concerned have also written letters to the Union government on the matter. It is a long pending demand. In the recent pre-union budget consultation meeting, Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has also suggested to set-up AIIMS in Raichur and the Union ministry also responded positively. We have 100 percent hope about setting-up AIIMS in Raichur.
(Edited by Neena)
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