Raise mining royalty multifold, Cong tells Karnataka CM

Newly-appointed President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) G Parameshwara expressed anguish that the royalty now is a meagre Rs 50 per tonne of iron ore, which commands a price in the region of Rs 3,500 to Rs 4,500 in the international market.

Obviously referring to Ministers G Janardhana Reddy and G Karunakara Reddy, who are also into mining business, he said only a handful of people from the mineral-rich Bellary were earning thousands of crores of rupees by exporting iron ore, while the wealth should have gone to the common man.

"Why is the Government not raising to loyalty to Rs 100 or Rs 200 or Rs 500 (per tonne)? What prevents the Chief Minister (B S Yeddyurappa) from doing so?," Parameshwara asked at a meet-the-press programme, organised jointly by the Bangalore Reporters' Guild and Press Club of Bangalore.

From the state Congress side, it would press the Centre to raise the royalty, he said. Parameshwara alleged that under the BJP rule, the agriculture sector had been neglected and fertile agriculture land is being acquired purportedly for industries in the name of development.

A masters degree holder in agriculture, who had also worked as a research associate in the field, he warned if the trend continues, it would lead to food shortage and said already the paddy and ragi yields have come down in the state.

He also said the budgets presented by the BJP Government in the past two years have not proposed any new project and the focus was only on "cosmetic changes".

Parameshwara said the youth would be given more representation in the upcoming Zilla and Taluk Panchayat elections, as the party aims to build leadership from the grassroots.

Asked what the Congress strategy would be to win back the support of backward classes, Dalits and minorities, he said his party needs to reconnect with them, adding, the Congress would reach out to them and regain their confidence.

He said KPCC executive committee would be constituted soon, a task which could not be achieved in the past more than a decade, and he had already held discussions with the party's top leaders in this regard.