There must be a thorough discussion on the Karnataka Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill 2007 in the both houses of the Vidhana Soudha, demanded Leader of Opposition in Assembly N Dharam Singh.
He was addressing a press conference here on Sunday. The government’s image was tarnished as Governor T N Chaturvedi had requested it to reconsider the Bill  Act, he said.
Late PM Rajiv Gandhi and former Karnataka CM Ramkrishna Hegde had emphasised decentralisation of power. The letter sent by the governor to reconsider the bill was the property of Vidhana Soudha and there should a thorough discussion on it, he said.
If the government did not allow a debate on the bill in the houses it would be an insult to the governor’s post, he added.
The government was justifying the bill by arguing that gram sabhas were not being held and there was delay in choosing beneficiaries for Ashraya houses. Giving more powers to MLAs in these matters was nothing but snatching away the powers of zilla panchayats and gram panchayats. The bill was a move to satisfy the MLAs in the government. With the governor returning the bill, it was proved that the government could not anything it wanted just because it had the numbers.
The bill was passed in the Vidhana Soudha but it did not get support in the Vidhana Parishat.
Karnataka’s Panchayat Raj set-up was appreciated by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. But the JD(S) had set out to introduce the bill due to pressure from the BJP. Congress would oppose the bill tooth and nail, he said.
State women’s varsity
On the hooliganism by ABVP cadres in Karnataka State Women’s University campus in Bijapur, Dharam said he did not understand whether it was BJP-JD(S) or ABVP which was ruling the State. It was wrong for ABVP cadres to take law into their hands. If VC Sayeeda Akthar was guilty of wrong doing the government must take action against her. Dharam said he would wait for Higher Education Minister D H Shankarmurthy’s statement on the matter on the floor of the house before chalking further course of action.
SEZs
It was wrong on Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s part to state that there would be a rethink on special economic zones outside the house when the Assembly session was on. The matter would be raised in the Assembly, he said
There were 33 proposals to form SEZs. Fertile land of farmers should not be sacrificed for the sake of SEZs, he demanded.