Hosanagara development issues, including poor infrastructure, limited employment and concerns linked to submergence, dominated a public grievance meeting in Nagar hobli of Shivamogga district on Saturday, where farmer organisations threatened to boycott the programme after MLA Araga Jnanendra did not arrive on time.
More than 70 applications were submitted at the Prajaseve programme held at Amrutha Vidyalaya in Nagar. Among them was a petition from a group of local young men who said the lack of development had become so severe that families were reluctant to arrange marriages with men from the hobli. The petition described the marriage-related concern as a consequence of weak local development rather than an isolated social issue.
The young men said Nagar hobli had five dams but continued to face several problems. They cited the absence of employment opportunities and concerns surrounding the Kasturirangan report as factors affecting the area. They also said water from surrounding submergence areas had contributed to the decline of Nagar and sought comprehensive development of the hobli.
Tehsildar Bharat Raj accepted the petition and said it would be forwarded directly to the government because it raised broader development concerns. Officials from several departments, including health, education, public works, electricity, women and child development, forest and horticulture, attended the meeting.
The programme was scheduled to begin in the morning, and officials were present by 10 am. Residents from surrounding villages arrived with applications, but the MLA’s absence until the afternoon caused anger among those waiting. Farmer organisations and other groups questioned the purpose of a public-service meeting covering an area with a population of about 18,000 when fewer than 100 people were present and many residents had not received information about it.
Farmer organisation president G.V. Ravindra said residents had work and family responsibilities and suggested that the meeting should be boycotted. Mastikatte Subrahmanya said the MLA should have attended personally and that the programme should begin only after his arrival. The tehsildar asked residents to submit their applications while waiting, saying the MLA had instructed officials to receive them.
Jnanendra arrived after noon and explained that public-service programmes had been organised at two locations in Thirthahalli, which caused the delay. He said the issue could have been avoided if the tehsildars of Hosanagara and Thirthahalli had coordinated the scheduling of the programmes.
Speaking after inaugurating the meeting, the MLA said public-service programmes and other government initiatives should not remain limited to announcements and that implementation was equally important. He said government offices should work in a people-friendly manner and that officials should consider both their own time and the time taken by residents travelling from distant villages. The next step is the forwarding of the development-related petition to the government for consideration.
