Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO
The State government will provide school buses to rural schoolchildren under the public-private partnership mode, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said in Shiggaon in Haveri district on Sunday.
“We will soon start the project. That will help rural children reach school on time and return home safely. This will be taken up in the PPP mode. The pilot project will be launched in Haveri district,” Mr. Bommai said.
He said that further details will be made available in a few days.
He was speaking after laying the foundation stone for a bus depot in Shiggaon. There was a long-pending demand for the depot here. The government had set aside ₹10 crore for the project. But it did not take off as the government could not get land. “We have resolved all such issues. The depot and training centre will come up here at a cost of ₹28 crore,” he said.
The depot will not only run buses but also train young drivers and mechanics, he said.
He said that he was focusing on developing Shiggaon as a hub of technical education, skill development and technology-based jobs. “We have upgraded the Shiggaon Industrial Training Institute at a cost of ₹30 crore. There is a polytechnic college in nearby Bankapur. These will train local youth,” he said.
He said that Minister Shivaraj Hebbar is setting up an ethanol plant nearby. “It will give jobs to several trained youth. Similarly, we are trying to get the JCB earthmover training centre to Shiggaon. It will help local youth get jobs,’‘ the Chief Minister said.
The Chief Minister laid the foundation stone for a 250-bed hospital in Shiggaon. He inaugurated some development projects and launched other works in Shiggaon taluk.
MLAs, MLCs and others were present.