Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, on Monday led a 29-member all-party delegation, consisting of Union Ministers, State Ministers and other opposition leaders to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here, seeking amendment to the constitution, under Article 371, to provide special status to the backward Hyderabad-Karnataka region of the State.
In a memorandum presented to Dr. Singh, he said he was raising the issue on behalf of people in six districts in Northern Karnataka -- Gulbarga, Bidar, Raichur, Koppal and Bellary – where 21 out of 39 taluks remained “most backward”. The report on the human development index of regions also confirmed the same, he said.
The delegation took up the issue of recent ban on using plastic material for packing Gutkha, which had led to “drastic reduction” in the Arecanut procurements in Karnataka. “We request, more time to make alternative arrangements” they said and wanted increased minimum support price for Arecanut.
Mr. Yeddyurappa told Dr. Singh that the issue concerned the livelihood of 10 lakh families of Arecanut famers who were raising the product in 2.2 lakh hectares and most of them were small and marginal farmers.
The delegates, who also included Union Law and Justice Minister M. Veerappa Moily and Union Labour and Emplolyment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, also highlighted the plight of those in the sericulture in Karnataka who were affected by the Centre’s decision to reduce the import duty on silk from 30 per cent to 5 per cent.
“Reduction in import duty has mainly helped China, to flood our domestic markets and its traders. But not our farmers and processing units.”
They pointed out that 45 per cent of India’s silk production came from Karnataka. They wanted the Centre to restore the import duty to 30 per cent.
The delegates also called on Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh on the same issue.
Mr. Yeddyurappa requested Mr. Ramesh to provide early environmental clearance for various power projects in the State.
The other delegates were Karnataka Minister V.S. Acharya, Shoba Karandlaje, B.N. Bache Gowda, Revu Naik Belamagi, P.M. Renukacharya and Basavaraj Bommai, Leader of the Opposition in Assembly M. Siddaramaiah, in Opposition leader in Legislative council Mottamma, JD (S) Assembly floor leader H.D. Revanna.
