Southern States - Karnataka   

Art. 371: Krishna to lead team to Delhi

By Our Staff Correspondent

GULBARGA Feb. 7. The Karnataka Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, on Friday said that he would lead a representative of all-party delegation to meet the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K.Advani, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sonia Gandhi, to press for an amendment to Article 371 and include Karnataka in the Schedule to provide reservation in employment and education for the people of the backward areas.

Inaugurating the Rs. 20-crore ultra modern Police Training Centre (PTC) at Naganahalli on the outskirts of the city, Mr. Krishna, replying to the demand made by the Public Works Minister, Dharam Singh, and the Home Minister, Mallikarjun Kharge, for leading such a delegation, said the delegation would leave for New Delhi during Parliament session and prior to the Budget session of the Legislative Assembly scheduled to begin on February 27.

Mr. Krishna did not agree with reasons for which the Centre rejected the proposal to amend Article 371. He said that while submitting the proposals the State Government had taken all aspects into consideration and provided facts on why the backward regions required special attention.

Mr. Krishna said while the Centre had amended Article 371 to provide separate reservation in employment and education in Telengana in Andhra Pradesh and Vidharbha in Maharashtra, the same was denied to Karnataka. He said the situation in Hyderabad-Karnataka region was similar to the one that prevailed in Telengana and Vidharbha at the time of amending the Article 371.

He said the Centre should adopt a positive approach to the problems faced by the people of the backward regions in the State and concede the demand.

Mr. Krishna said it was time all parties united on the issue. "I am confident the State Government will make the Centre understand the ground realities and act favourably," he said.

Earlier, addressing party workers at the District Congress Committee (DCC) office, Mr. Krishna said the rejection of the proposals to amend Article 371 was disturbing. The Centre should specify on what grounds the provisions of Article 371 could be extended to Karnataka. This should not be construed as a confrontation with the Centre. All that the State Government wanted was to ensure justice to the people of backward regions. Mr. Dharam Singh and Mr. Kharge in their address at the inauguration of the training centre at Naganahalllli impressed upon the Chief Minister the need to take an all-party delegation to meet the Prime Minister and ensure that the Article 371 was amended to overcome imbalances in backward regions.

Mr. Kharge said reservation would ensure that students in rural areas got special marks and quota in jobs.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Art. 371: Krishna to lead team to Delhi
• CM hints at cut in Plan size
• Govt. to expand telemedicine facility
• Secular parties must quit NDA: Gowda
• Kappec to help boost grape exports from State
• Visvesvaraya awards announced
• Poojary's appointment widely welcomed

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu