Post the twists and turns of coalition politics, seen through October and November 2007, Karnataka — now under President’s rule — is making slow and contemplative progress in addressing its key issues. In the absence of a popular Government, the reins of the state are virtually in the hands of the UPA Government at the Centre. And the nearly two-month-old Karnataka Government under Governor Rameshwar Thakur has been very measured in its approach and is following a symptom-remedy governance method.

The state administration was, in fact, caught unawares at the start of its tenure when the Karnataka Milk Federation, headed by former minister H D Revanna, increased the price of milk by nearly 20 per cent. The administration has since then shown keenness to address the infrastructure issue in the state, especially in Bangalore. Governor Thakur has repeatedly stated that improving infrastructure is his key area of focus. In his first move in this direction, the Governor, just ahead of the New Year, cleared a proposal to create a Rs 3,800-crore metro rail link between central Bangalore and the city’s new international airport, located 37 km from the city.

In another move to improve the connectivity to the new airport, set to open on March 30, the administration decided to handover the construction of a dedicated expressway to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The expressway was to be originally constructed by a state Government agency and is among the several road projects around Bangalore that are being considered for a handover to the NHAI, instead of the Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited, the Public Works Department and agencies like the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority, according to officials in the state infrastructure department. The handovers to the NHAI are aimed at speeding up projects, but have met with resistance from some state authorities, officials said.

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