Jaffer Sharief, the man behind golden era in Railways sector

Vijesh Kamath for Deccan Herald
November 26, 2018

Bengaluru, Nov 26: Former union minister and senior Congress leader C K Jaffer Sharief, best known for ushering in a golden era in the railways sector in Karnataka, passed away in Bengaluru on Sunday. He was 85.

Sharief suffered a major cardiac arrest at home and was rushed to a private hospital. He breathed his last at 12.30 pm. He will be laid to rest at Jayamahal burial grounds on Millers Road following namaz at Khadria mosque on Monday afternoon.

Born on November 3, 1933, in Chitradurga, Sharief started his political career driving the car of his political mentor and former chief minister S Nijalingappa in the late 1960s.

He was loyal to the Congress, but at times caused embarrassment to the party by making caustic remarks against the leadership.

Sharief was best known for his tenure as railway minister (1991-95) in the P V Narasimha Rao Cabinet. He brought several railway projects to Bengaluru and is credited with the task of broad gauge conversion across the country.

Sharief’s tenure at the helm of the Railways is known as the golden period for the state. He sanctioned 1,000 km of gauge conversion works out of the 6,000 km sanctioned to the entire country. This included conversion of section like Bengaluru-Guntakal, Bengaluru-Mysuru.

He also secured several new lines including Chitradurga- Rayadurga and Mangaluru-Roha. He was instrumental in getting the Wheel and Axle plant to Bengaluru. He played a pivotal role in the establishment of the South Western Railways and securing the Inland Container Depot and Railway Recruitment Board to the state.

It was during Sharief’s time that services like Shatabdi and Rajdhani were introduced from Karnataka and several rail over bridge and rail under bridges built. A seven-term Lok Sabha member, he represented Bengaluru North constituency without a break between 1977-96. He was denied a ticket in 1996 following his initials figuring in the infamous Jain diaries. However, he came back with a bang, winning the seat in 1998.

In 1969, Sharief took sides and joined the Indira Gandhi faction when the Congress split. It is said it was Sharief who sounded Indira Gandhi that senior Congress leaders were planning to expel her from the party for indiscipline.

This earned a reward for Sharief who was inducted into the cabinet as minister of state for railways by Indira Gandhi in 1980. He also served as the minister of state for coal in the Rajiv Gandhi government.

Popularly called “Jaffer bhai” in political circles, Sharief many a time wanted to enter state politics and even cherished the dream of becoming chief minister. However, that was not to be. The last time he contested elections was in 2009 from Bengaluru North constituency and was defeated by D B Chandre Gowda of the BJP.

In the last few years, Sharief fell out with the Congress leadership as he felt he was being sidelined. On several occasions, he threatened to quit the party, sulking for being denied a ticket to him or his family members. Sharief lost two of his sons in 1996 and 2008. He is survived by two daughters.

Comments

Sruti Kotian
 - 
Monday, 26 Nov 2018

True.. such a good man

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 27,2020

Bengaluru, May 27: A yet incomplete state-wide survey has revealed that there are over 53.99 lakh households vulnerable to the infection in Karnataka. The survey is being conducted by the government to find COVID-19 vulnerable population particularly with comorbidities and cases like SARI and ILI.

The survey, which is 67.16% complete so far, finds 1.37 lakh households across Karnataka have people with comorbid conditions, excluding a further 13,341 households with symptoms of Influenza Like Illness (ILI), Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and Covid-19.

Over 48 lakh households have senior citizens, who on account of their age are at highest risk of death from the disease.

Munish Moudgil, Director of the State COVID War Room, clarified that households could have multiple types of vulnerable people. According to the survey data (which is dated May 26), Kalaburagi and Bengaluru Urban have the highest cases of SARI, ILI with 1,902 households and 1,703 households respectively, although these numbers are likely to rise, as the survey is still incomplete in these districts. 

A BBMP source said that 68% of the survey has been completed in the city, but the data has not been logged yet. The number of SARI/ILI cases is next highest in Shivamogga with 1,217 households, Mysuru with 1,200 and Davangere with 1,178.

The government regards SARI and ILI as indicators of coronavirus and on April 17, had passed an order instructing healthcare workers to test people with these conditions for the coronavirus. Consequently, 51 COVID-19 cases were discovered by testing people with these symptoms.

Belagavi, meantime, has reported the highest incidents of households with comorbid conditions with 12,427 identified so far, followed by Mandya with 9,289, Kalaburagi with 8,311, Shivamogga with 8,140 and Bengaluru Urban with 7,562. Importantly, 3,45,443 vulnerable people have been identified in Bengaluru Urban within 28.26% of data logged in so far.

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News Network
January 10,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 10: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday launched 'Sapthapadi', a mass marriage program in Bengaluru.

The state authorities will provide a mangalsutra worth Rs 40,000 and Rs 5,000 to the groom. They will also give Rs 10,000 to the bride after marriage.

The state government has also informed that the department has shortlisted some temples where the mass marriages will be held.

Yediyurappa also confirmed that the government will help communities like Muslim and Christians also to organise mass marriage as per their respective rituals.

According to the state government guidelines, issued last year in November, both parents of the couple should attend the ceremony if the duo wants to avail benefits of this offer but those who want to marry without their parent's permission do not stand a chance here.

Also, those wanting a love marriage will not be able to reap the benefits of the scheme. The plan is to conduct about 1,000 marriages in 90-100 temples.

The couples wanting to tie the knot are expected to register themselves 30 days before the scheduled date in the temple. Following which a list will be prepared.

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News Network
March 12,2020

Bhopal, Mar 12: Madhya Pradesh Congress on Thursday alleged that two of its ministers who had gone to Bengaluru to meet the rebel party legislators were assaulted.

"Two of our ministers Jitu Patwari and Lakhan Singh had gone to Bengaluru. They were assaulted, we have info that our ministers have been arrested," Madhya Pradesh Congress leader said during a press conference.

Congress further warned that if the police don't take action, the party will take it to the court.

Some of the rebel MLAs had said in a video on Wednesday that they were in Bengaluru out of their own will.

The rebel MLAs have been staying in Bengaluru over the past few days.

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