Ankola: “The world is growing at a fast pace and we must catch up with that pace. Indians must grow not only in India but outside the country also to win over the world. For that Karwar-Ankola must be developed into a commercial centre”, said Union Minister Ananthkumar Hegde.

Speaking after inaugurating the first Passport Seva Kendra of Uttara Kannada district in Ankola recently, he said that cheap politics will not help the country progress. A vision and the determination to make it come true is needed for it. Losers who are not optimistic about development just keep raising questions rather than finding solutions to overcome the problems. The population of our country is our strength and with this human resource, our country has been growing economically strong.

Hegde said that air cargo services will be started from Belagavi airport soon. This will boost business in the region. However, there was a need to adopt agriculture technology and increase productivity so that Uttara Kannada district becomes a fast-growing economy.

MLA Roopali Naik who presided over the programme said that the entire district must develop and for this, the co-operation of the native people was needed.

He said that people from the district including those staying in India and abroad have to contribute towards the development of their home district. 

Assistant Officer K Harishchandran informed that presently 440 Passport Seva Kendras were functioning in the country. The fee of a common application is Rs 1,500. All information about getting a passport is available online. There was no need to approach any agent for that.

Earlier, condolence was offered to Shivakumara Swamiji of Siddaganga Mutt in Tumakuru who passed away recently and also the victims of the boat capsize mishap near Karwar recently. 

The first token of the Passport Seva Kendra was given to Lakshminarayangowda and Dattatreya Shetty of Karwar.

Leader Sunil Hegde also spoke on the occasion and Veena Shrinivasan welcomed the gathering.