Former speaker bats for neera in State

 A delegation of farmers led by former Legislative Assembly Speaker Krishna on Monday urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to allow manufacture and sale of neera in the State

.

The State government should adopt the Kerala model of promoting neera. Coconut farmers in the neighbouring State are making a good profit out of neera production and sale. The Kerala government has helped the farmers there to form societies among themselves and sell neera. A similar step should be taken in Karnataka, Krishna said.

The Karnataka government has to first take neera out of the Karnataka Excise Act by amending it. A network has to be put in place on the lines of milk cooperative societies so that both production and sale of neera are taken care of. Besides, a number of companies are eager to set up neera processing units in the State, he added.

The delegation urged Siddaramaiah to make an announcement in this regard in his 2015-16 State budget. This apart, a delegation from Pavagad led by Congress leader V S Ugrappa met Siddaramaiah and urged him to ensure supply of drinking water to people of Pavagad town and surrounding places by pumping water from Tungabhadra reservoir.