Mangaluru: Karnataka’s landmark land reform laws under former Chief Minister D. Devaraj Urs continue to stand as a model for the country, Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Darshan H.V. said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the 110th birth anniversary celebrations of Urs, the DC underlined that the state’s bold legislation of the 1970s gave thousands of landless cultivators ownership rights and altered rural social structures. “Many families who today enjoy the security of land are beneficiaries of Urs’ reforms. The younger generation must be reminded of how this transformation was achieved,” he said.

Darshan emphasised that Karnataka’s successful implementation of the principle “Uluvavane Holada Odeya” (the tiller is the owner) has rarely been replicated elsewhere in India. Urs, he noted, risked his political standing to deliver justice to the marginalised.

Academics recalled that apart from land reforms, Urs expanded hostels for backward class students, initiated housing under the Janata Mane scheme, and electrified rural households through Bhagya Jyothi. The programme was jointly organised by the district administration, Zilla Panchayat and the Department of Backward Classes Welfare.