Bengaluru, November 14 (Yes Punjab News)
Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Saturday recalled a light-hearted exchange with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their Metro journey at the inauguration of the Pink Line Metro on November 13, saying he had asked the Prime Minister to buy his ticket as he did not have money.
“I told him that I did not have money to buy a Metro ticket and asked him to buy my ticket as well. PM Modi paid for the tickets using his own card,” Shivakumar told reporters.
Asked about his bonding with Modi and their conversation during a helicopter journey to Mysuru, the Chief Minister said, “I cannot reveal everything that we discussed.”
Responding to a question about getting time with the Prime Minister, which even BJP leaders might not get, Shivakumar said the interaction was based on human relationships and mutual respect.
“Even our party leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge also treat me with love and respect. Not everyone has leadership qualities. I do not hesitate to speak to anyone. We should maintain good relations with everyone,” he said.
On encouraging Bengaluru residents to use public transport, Shivakumar said Karnataka had the highest number of buses deployed for public transport in the country. He stressed that the Metro was equally important, particularly given the limited road space in the city.
The Chief Minister also said he had directed Metro authorities to use granite and other stones available in Karnataka for station construction instead of procuring them from outside the state. He said the move would support local industries and generate employment in cutting and processing.
Shivakumar said Karnataka had a wide variety of stones available in areas including Chamarajanagar, Tumakuru, Sira, Badami, Ilkal, Kanakapura and Magadi. He named Hassan Green, Tumakuru Barpari, Bengaluru Blue, Multi Colour, Jubrani, Kollegal Black and Ilkal Red among the varieties.
He said local granite was comparable in quality to stones sourced from outside the state and urged authorities to give preference to locally available materials.
On Children’s Day, Shivakumar advised students to limit unnecessary mobile phone use and focus on education.
“Use technology, including Google and ChatGPT, to obtain information, but do not waste time unnecessarily on mobile phones. Do not waste the valuable time meant for education at your age. Give priority to education and respect your parents and teachers,” he said.
On improving government schools, the Chief Minister said he had appealed to private schools and educational institutions to adopt government schools and support their development. He also said he had discussed the use of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds for government schools with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and sought suitable guidelines.
“The government has decided to provide 7.5 per cent reservation to students who studied in government schools. Our objective is to improve the quality of government schools to the level of private schools,” he said.
Clarifying that the initiative would not involve handing over government schools to private entities, Shivakumar said their ownership and control would remain with the government. Private institutions would only be asked to provide support for their development.
On Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of phone tapping against Prime Minister Modi, Shivakumar said he was gathering information and would comment after obtaining complete details.
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