Thursday, Nov 28, 2002
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Karnataka
By Our Special Correspondent
Speaking at a function after laying the foundation for the Rajiv Gandhi Technology Mission Drinking Water Project for six villages, affected by excess fluoride content in water, on the banks of the Bhima here, Mr. Singh said that in contradiction to the statement of the Union Minister of State for Home, I.D. Swami, in Parliament a few days ago, the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, had promised that the Centre would consider the demand for an amendment to Article 371 during his recent visit to Gulbarga city. He said that the amendment and bringing the State within its schedule would have given legal cover to the State to provide reservation in job opportunities and admission to professional and vocational courses to students from backward regions. The Minister said the Krishna Cabinet fulfilled its obligation and had sent the proposal to the Union Home Ministry for follow-up action. The Government had clarified doubts raised by the Home Ministry on the proposal. However, he said the reply given by Mr. Swami in Parliament to a question raised in this regard by the Gulbarga MP, Iqbal Ahmed Saradagi, had created apprehensions in the minds of the people of the backward regions. The State BJP leaders had claimed that the Centre was ready to amend Article 371 and blamed the Krishna Government for not sending the proposal to the Centre, he noted. Mr. Advani, addressing a public meeting in Gulbarga city during his visit, said the State should have been included in the Schedule of the amended Article 371 to provide reservation for people from backward regions to overcome regional imbalances. He also promised that the Centre would sympathetically consider the proposal and take action expeditiously. Mr. Singh said that the efforts initiated by the former Chief Minister, late R. Gundu Rao, for finding a solution to the regional imbalances and backwardness of the Hyderabad Karnataka region had suffered a setback due to the indifferent attitude of the governments that followed in the State. Though the Hyderabad Karnataka Development Board came into existence at the fag of end of the then Janata Dal Government headed by S.R. Bommai, it was the Congress Government that gave a new life to the board by allocating funds. He said that the board suffered a setback again after the Janata Dal returned to power in 1994 and the development works taken up by the board to bring the backward districts of the Hyderabad Karnataka region on a par with the developed districts in the State suffered during its five-year rule, with the Government reducing allocations. It was left to the Congress to revive the board after it was elected to form the government in 1999 and the allocation to the board had been restored to its original level. Referring to the separate Statehood demand raised by the Hyderabad Karnataka Horata Samiti, Mr. Singh said that such demands would not gain currency among the people. He said the State Government had proposed to the Centre to amend Article 371 in an attempt to defeat the separatist tendencies in the backward regions. The MLA, Malikayya Guttedar, spoke. The DCC president, Gundappa Korwar, the Gulbarga Development Authority Chairman, Narayanrao Kale, and the Congress Minority Cell chief, Ustad Sadat Hussain, were present.
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