Puttur : The Chief Minister inaugurated a new Mini Vidhana Soudha constructed at a cost of Rs. 9.27 crore  in Puttur on Saturday March 14.

He also inaugurated Morarji Desai Model Residential School for SC/STs at Balnad and also laid the foundation stone for an additional building for inspection bungalow in Puttur.

The new building will house, among others, the office of Assistant Commissioner, Tahsildar, the Sub-Registrar and the Assistant Director of Land Records.

After inaugurating the Mini Vidhana Soudha, Mr. Siddaramaiah said two more Mini Vidhana Soudhas were coming up at Bantwal and Belthangady at a cost of Rs. 10 crore each.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has asked people to raise their voice against persons or groups that disturb peace and harmony in the district. “There will be zero tolerance towards persons disturbing peace and indulging in moral policing,” he said at a public meeting here on Saturday.

Mr. Siddramaiah said the Constitution provided equal opportunity to all communities to practice their faiths. The State government was bound by the Constitution and it would not tolerate any group that tries to disturb harmony in the region.

“It is only here that we see more incidents of moral policing.” Mr. Siddaramaiah said the police had been told to take action against culprits. He said there would not be any compromise on maintaining communal harmony, which was important for the development of the region. “We will not tolerate anybody who hurts communal harmony,” he said. The Chief Minister added that they would not allow functions in which speakers might try to malign people from other communities.

Hitting back on Union Law Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Shobha Karandlaje, MP, on their comments over Kasturirangan panel recommendations, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the State government was collecting views of people on the issue. “We will send this to the Centre. Let Mr. Gowda, Ms. Karandlaje and Mr. Nalin Kumar Kateel pursue it further.”
“You cannot make comments just for political reasons,” he said and said people need to be made aware of facts and realities.

Puttur MLA Shakuntala Shetty asked Mr. Siddaramaiah to carve out Mangaluru Rural District with Puttur as the district headquarters. Minister for Environment and Ecology B. Ramanath Rai, Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake, Public Works Department Minister H.C.

Mahadevappa, Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Minister of State for Women and Child Welfare Umashree and Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports K. Abhayachandra Jain participated.