Bengaluru: In his 17th state budget, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Friday (March 6) announced that all the Gram Panchayats in the state will be renamed as Mahatma Gandhi Gram Panchayat. This comes after the Union government introduced VB-G RAM G programme and rolled back MNREGA.“All gram panchayats in the state will be named Mahatma Gandhi Gram Panchayats to immortalise the name of ‘Father of the Nation’ Mahatma Gandhi,” Siddaramaiah said. He underlined that VB-G RAM G programme weakens the demand-driven approach of NREGA and is contrary to Gram Swaraj concept of Mahatma Gandhi.Among the announcements made for higher education, the government said Rohith Vemula Act will be enacted in government, private and deemed universities across the state to prevent educational and social atrocities on students on caste lines. The details related to this act was not specified in the budget speech. This January, the Supreme Court stayed new rules introduced by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to tackle caste-based discrimination in higher education institutions after they sparked outrage from the ‘general category’ (those belonging to Savarna caste groups and not the Other Backward Classes, the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes or to Dalit communities).Student union elections will also be conducted in colleges and universities, Siddaramaiah announced underling that they help “develop leadership skills, responsibility and a deeper understanding of democratic processes”. Notably, this means Karnataka would revoke a ban on student union election after about three decades.School educationThe Karnataka government has announced the extension of free text book distribution from pre-primary to pre-university stage. In collaboration with IIT Dharwad, personalised self-learning digitalised tutor facility to 12.28 lakh students will be provided adopting AI technology, the chief minister said.In order to reduce the mental pressure among students, the government has also announced appointment of one mental health counsellor each for 204 Block Resource Centres (BRCs), which are local-level educational hubs designed to support primary and high school education requirements of students.Further, social media usage by children below the age of 16 will be banned in the state. “Social media will be banned for children under the age of 16 to prevent the adverse effects of increasing mobile phone usage. The ban is aimed at preventing the negative impact on children caused by increasing mobile phone usage, ” Siddaramaih said.It remains to be seen how the ban will be implemented.On healthThe state government has announced that free insulin pens will be distributed to children under 18 years of age suffering from Type 1 diabetes. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), India has the highest number of children and adolescents (under 20) with Type 1 diabetes globally, with an estimated 301,000 cases reported as of 2024.Based on the Kerala model, home-based palliative care for patients suffering from severe illness in collaboration with Pallium India will be provided, Siddaramaiah said. He also announced the establishment of IVF centres at a cost of Rs 1 crore each in Vani Vilas Hospital, Bengaluru and Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences, Kalaburagi.Emphasis on IT and AIIn his budget, Siddaramaiah said the state government will establish: a) Bengaluru Robotics and AI innovation Zone in collaboration with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (KEONICS), b) a new centre of excellence at IIIT Raichur, c) two AI centre of excellence in collaboration with Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB), Centre for Cellular And Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) and NASSCOM, Bengaluru, and d) a new IT park in Mangalore. Farmer call centre will be upgraded using AI technology, the chief minister mentioned.The government also announced that Mysuru will be developed as the second IT city of the state.