New chairpersons appointed to urban development authorities

The State government has appointed chairpersons to 16 urban development authorities (UDAs) and 23 town planning authorities (TPA

s).

The political appointments have been made following Chief Minister Siddaramaiah coming under pressure from Congressmen to give positions in the government-owned bodies.

Among the 16 chairpersons of UDAs, at least 50 per cent of them belong to minority communities. Sources in the Congress said those belonging to minority communities were selected to ensure parity in postings for the party workers. Only woman has found a place in this list.

With no other avenue of giving stature to Congress’ minority leaders, the appointment to urban development and town planning authorities was the only available option, the sources said.

The appointments were deliberated and discussed for nearly three months with local MLAs and leaders and the final list was also discussed with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah before seeking his assent for the appointments, it is learnt.

The list of 16 chairpersons to the UDAs for a period of 18 months or as long as the government wishes, includes Sharadha Gowda, Ramanagar and Channapatna UDA; Mohammad Agsar Chulbul, Kalaburagi UDA; L Siddegowda, Hospet UDA; Mohammad Umar Farooq, Raichur UDA; Suraiah Abrar, Madikeri UDA; Shamshuddin Babu, KGF UDA; Ayub Pehlwan, Davangere and Harihar UDA; C Shivamurthy, Tumakuru UDA;

Yuvraj Kadam, Belagavi UDA; Dhanappa A Kabbera, Hubbali-Dharwad UDA; B T Jagadish, Chitradurga UDA; Janardhan Thonse, Udupi UDA; G V Balaganura, Gadag and Betageri UDA; Khaji Arsha Ali, Bidar UDA; K Shambushetty, Karwar UDA and Sayyed Jhullusab Quadri, Koppal UDA.

The 23 chairpersons appointmented to TPAs for 18 months or as long as the government wishes include S Prabhakar, Anekal TPA; Chinnarange Gowda, Nelamangala TPA; Ramanjini, Hoskote TPA; H R Chandraiah, Magadi TPA; M Ravi Shankar, Hunsur TPA; Asheef Haji, Basavakalyana TPA; Sharanappa Pujara, Dandeli TPA; Gundappa, Shahpur TPA; B K Amreshappa, Manvi TPA; Gopal Balwant Naik,

Nippani TPA; Mohammad Abbas Thonse, Sirsi TPA; Ashwath Reddy, Chintamani TPA; Betta P Eshwar Bhatt, Puttur TPA; Jacob D’Souza, Kundapur TPA; Erappa Bhovi, Chittapur TPA; M S Narasimhamurthy, Kushalnagar TPA; Raja

Vasudev Naik, Surpur TPA; Mahadevappa Basappa Kalhal, Ramdurga TPA; Suresh Kottyan, Moodbidri TPA;

Gurappaji, Malavalli TPA; Pius L Rodriguez, Bantwal TPA; Sham Ghatagi, Jamkhandi TPA and Shanthu Surpura, Ilkal TPA.