Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Mines and Coal Pralhad Joshi has said that the Union government had set a target of 2024 to achieve self-sufficiency in coal production and had changed the coal mining policy to achieve the same.
Speaking to presspersons at Varur village in Hubballi taluk on Saturday, Mr. Joshi said that India stood fifth in terms of coal reserves and the Centre was working towards achieving self-sufficiency in coal production.
Admitting an economic slowdown, he said it wsa the result of economic slowdown at the global level. The Union Minister said already the Centre had initiated several steps for tackling the issue and the solutions provided by the government were making a positive impact now.
He hoped that the Gross Domestic Product of the country would improve in another three months. To a query about Kannadigas being deprived of opportunities in the banking sector, he said that already Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, through a tweet, had assured of conducting the banking examinations in Kannada.
Steps will also be taken to ensure that injustice was not meted out to candidates from Karnataka in banking and railway sectors, he said. Mr. Joshi claimed that GST was implemented in the country after careful examination and several changes had been effected in the tax system to minimise human intervention.
To another query, he said the amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act was an attempt to ensure adherence to rules and minimise road accidents.
He clarified that the State government had the authority to reduce the quantum of penalty being imposed for violations under the Act.
