In his first Independence Day speech as the Karnataka Chief Minister, D K Shivakumar Saturday laid out what he described as a roadmap for Bengaluru’s next phase of development, including a formal announcement of the plan to reorganise the city’s police administration.
The announcement is part of a broader effort by Shivakumar to reshape Bengaluru’s governance architecture, with plans ranging from restructuring the police commissionerate to rejuvenating lakes and creating tree parks.
“The Greater Bangalore Authority and five municipal corporations have been formed for better governance and safety. Steps are being taken to divide the Bangalore police commissionerate into five commissionerates,” Shivakumar said in his speech.
Shivakumar also announced measures on AI education, rural employment, professional-course reservations, and agricultural machinery subsidies.
The plan to split the 63-year-old Bengaluru police commissionerate is seen as a key project of the Congress government under Shivakumar.
The Indian Express reported the proposal to split Bengaluru’s police commissionerate into five units earlier this month. The plan, which received in-principle approval from Shivakumar on August 5, envisages five commissionerates — north, south, east, west and central — under a chief police commissioner, along with 6,633 additional posts at an estimated cost of about Rs 765 crore.
Under the proposal, five city police commissioners, ranked inspector general of police or deputy inspector general, will report to the DGP-rank chief commissioner. The city will have 28 DCPs working under five commissioners instead of the current 18 DCPs under one commissioner and two additional/joint commissioners.
According to the police commissioner’s proposal, which emerged in the public domain with an August 1 signature, since the “Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has been divided into five municipalities and the Greater Bangalore Authority has been established, there is a lack of coordination in the duties of the corporation and the police due to the division of jurisdiction”.
“Also, at present the police commissionerate unit is functioning under the jurisdiction of the Gram Panchayat and Town Panchayat, not under the jurisdiction of the Greater Bangalore Authority,” it added.
The Karnataka chief minister also announced AI Akshara Abhiyaan and a Coding Gurukul to facilitate skill development among children and youth.
“Young Karnataka-New India is our motto. More funds are being provided to shape the future of the youth. AI is being introduced in the state’s schools from Class 6 onwards, along with the AI Akshara Abhiyan and Coding Gurukul. The country’s first government-owned AI University will be established in Bengaluru and AI hubs will be built,” Shivakumar said.
To help rural students compete on par with urban students in gaining access to professional courses in the state, Shivakumar said a Sahaya Hastha scheme will be started to give 7.5 per cent reservation for students who study in rural government schools, within the existing 15 per cent reservation for those who study from classes 1 to 10 in rural schools.
“This will further expand opportunities for quality professional higher education, including medicine and engineering,” he said.
For the rural sector, Shivakumar said a “50 per cent subsidy would be provided on rental charges of agricultural machinery for farmers with land holding of three acres or less.”
Shivakumar also said an employment fund scheme would be implemented “to encourage entrepreneurs who create jobs in ten backward districts by providing an incentive of Rs 2,500 per month for each new job.” “This will create one lakh new jobs,” he said.
Shivakumar also announced five large tree parks and rejuvenation of seven major lakes in Bengaluru.
He said Hesaraghatta Lake, Bettada Kote Lake, Hoskote Lake, Ele Mallappa Shetty Lake, Bannerghatta Lake, Bagalur Lake, and Bairamangala Lake will be given “a new look and developed for the purpose of groundwater recharge and drinking water security in Bangalore.
“I will leave a legacy for the people of the country who trusted me and brought me this far. The development of Karnataka and the development of India complement each other, and the government’s goal is to further develop the strength of Karnataka, which is showing the way to the country in knowledge, science, technology, industry, agriculture, economy and culture,” he said.
“Karnataka’s per capita income has reached Rs 4.33 lakh, and the state is ranked second in GST and income tax collections. The target is to take Karnataka’s economy to 3 trillion dollars, i.e. Rs 320 lakh crore, by 2047 by investing in education, health, agriculture, industry and infrastructure,” he said.
