The State Budget proposals presented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday sparked off instant protests from farmers against the government for not considering their demand to waive crop loans.
The farmers, led by former Union Minister Babagouda Patil, staged a protest in front of Deputy Commissioner’s office. They reminded the government that over 160 taluks, majority of them in North Karnataka, were in the grip of drought. The farmers had been demanding a waiver of crop loans for the past two years. Instead of taking steps to provide much-needed relief to the farmers, the government had found a pretext in the Union government’s reluctance to announce crop loan.
The district unit of JD(S) also criticised the CM and described the budget as ‘anti-farmer’.
Rani Channamma
Meanwhile, Karnataka Nava Nirman Vedike activists also staged a protest demanding that the government take measures to declare the ‘samadhi’ of Rani Channamma at Bailhongal town a national monument and develop it accordingly. The vedike also demanded the government install life-sized statues of both Rani Channamma and her trusted lieutenant Sangolli Rayanna at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha premises in Belagavi city.
Industry unhappy
Satish Tendolkar, former president, Belagavi Chamber of Commerce and Industries, held that the government had belied the expectations of industries. He said that the CM did not utter a single word for Belagavi industry. No special package was offered to Belagavi, which the government had been claiming to develop on the lines of the second capital of Karnataka, increased motor vehicle tax which would adversely affect automobile industry. As there was no direct relief to industry in Karnataka, industrial growth was bound to suffer during next fiscal year, he added.
