North K'taka issues discussed as session nears end

NT Correspondent

Belagavi

Issues pertaining to north Karnataka took centre stage in the Assembly at Belagavi’s Suvarna Vidhana Soudha on Wednesday as MLAs from the region spoke on the topic. The winter session is slated to end on Thursday and the discussions on the region were long overdue on the agenda. Assembly Speaker UT Khader even declared that there would be no lunch break since a number of MLAs had requested that they be allowed to speak. Speaking exclusively to News Trail, Minister for Minority Welfare and Waqf Zameer Ahmed Khan said that he was satisfied with the discussions on the region. “We made the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi with one of the reasons being that we should be able to discuss issues facing north Karnataka,” he said.

Many north Karnataka MLAs suggested the setting up of a Kittur-Karnataka Development Corporation along the lines of Kalyana-Karnataka Regional Development Corporation. Congress MLA from Athani Laxman Savadi spoke at length about rural distress in the region, especially among cane farmers.

He said Karnataka was the third largest sugar producing state after UP and Maharashtra but cane farmers here didn’t get fair prices, especially on ethanol. “I suggest that there be a MSP for grapes. Also, the State government should buy grapes from farmers and use the fruit in the scheme wherein they provide nutritious meals for pregnant women.