DKS: Only Kannadigas will get preference in energy dept

BENGALURU: "Only Kannadigas will be given preference while recruiting engineers in the energy department in future," power minister DK Shivakumar said on Wednesday. He was speaking at the 110th anniversary of the electrification of Bengaluru, the first city in India to get electricity generated by a hydel plant situated in Shivanasamudra, way back in 1906. "Karnataka will not go for privatization and we will prove that ours is the best energy supplier in the nation. Solar energy is the future and Karnataka has one of the best solar policies. Also, we are the only state to have grid-connected rooftop solar power," the minster added. Clearing the air on the demand for holding re-examination for last year's recruitments to the energy department, Shivakumar said: "The exams were conducted with transparency; they won't be scrapped." Since January 2015, over 10,000 recruitments have been made in the department. The department has adopted Harobele village in Kanakapura taluk for the Surya Raitha scheme, under which over 300 farmers are using irrigation pumpsets powered by the sun. -TOI