Hyderabad Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HKCCI) submitted a memorandum listing out various demands concerning the development of Kalyana Karnataka region to Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan here on Monday.
Signed by Amarnath C. Patil and Shashikanth B. Patil, president and secretary of HKCCI respectively, the memorandum focused on six long-pending demands — the establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZ), an extension of Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (Bhavantar Yojna) to red gram that is widely grown in the region, making the Information Technology Park in Kalaburagi functional, the establishment of a unit of All India Institute of Medical Sciences or an equivalent institution in the vacant ESIC Medical Complex in Kalaburagi, the implementation of the Kalaburagi Railway Division which has already been sanctioned and finally, the effective implementation of the Special Status accorded to the region under Article 371(J) of the Constitution.
“Kalyana Karnataka is industrially underdeveloped. Its industrial development is possible only if the government, as a measure of policy, establishes SEZs in all the sectors, including IT in the region extensively. Red gram is the bread and butter of not only farmers of the region but also it is the nerve centre of the entire economy of the region as all economic activity revolves around the cultivation of this main crop. But farmers are not properly insulated by policy intervention. The policy of direct procurement from farmers with its inherent weaknesses has not succeeded in addressing their problems. There is a need to adopt and make applicable the Union government-floated Price Deficiency Payment Scheme to red gram. The ambitious IT Park in Kalaburagi is not fully functional. With the Kalaburagi Airport becoming operational, there is no bottleneck in it becoming functional,” the office-bearers said in the memorandum.
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“Kalyana Karnataka with its very old railway infrastructure is spilled over in five different railway divisions for the purpose of rail administration. The people of this region need to move around five different railway divisions for the resolution of railway grievances. The Union government sanctioned a railway division in 2013 to be established at Kalaburagi for which the foundation stone was also laid in the same year. The Stat government, as a shareholder with 50 % stake, needs to move the Railway Ministry to establish the Kalaburagi Railway Division,” the memorandum said.