KSE seeks white paper on fiscal matters, water woes

Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council K S Eshwarappa said the Congress-led state government should release a white paper on the current fiscal scenario and also on the drinking water focusing on the expenditure and investment.

Speaking to mediapersons here on Wednesday, he said the state is reeling under drought. Rural areas are the worst hit, but the government is taking the situation lightly and the ministers have indulged in lavishness, he charged.

He said the chief minister should instruct his Cabinet ministers to travel the state for a hands-on experience of the people sufferings to assess the situation.

Eshwarappa said the rural development and panchayat raj minister had announced that the government is setting up 7,000 pure drinking water units. Among them, 1,400 units have been completed. A programme to celebrate the success of the installation of 1,000 pure drinking water units was held at banquet hall in Vidhana Soudha a few days ago and the government spent Rs 50 lakh for this purpose.

However, the government is unable to offer the list of the 1,000 pure drinking water units, he said and demanded that the government should release the list by May 1.

Or else, he will have to face the BJP MLAs’ wrath at Vidhana Soudha, he warned.
He said 12 teams, comprising the party members, have been touring the state to assess the current drought situation. The Cabinet should take a decision to immediately initiate measures to solve the scarcity of drinking water, he added and demanded the government to provide details on the funds released to overcome the drinking water crisis.

He said 29 multivillage drinking water schemes were initiated during the BJP tenure, but none of them has been completed. In Mangaluru, the target for 2015-16 is 303 projects and not even a single project is completed, he said. The deputy commissioners should be given free hand to tackle the issue, he observed.

Eshwarappa said the chief minister has said that Rs 10,000 crore will be released for drinking water works while Rs 2,500 crore is pending to be paid for the contractors.
The former deputy chief minister quipped that the chief minister and his partymen are scared as the former chief minister Yeddyurappa has taken over as the state BJP chief. The fear of losing power is creating ripples, he remarked.

He ridiculed that the chief minister himself is acting as the agent for BJP and helping out BJP to come back to power by introducing the schemes and projects which turn out be a huge blunder.

Replying to a question over the pending Lokayukta case against Yeddyurappa, he said the BJP is all set to face the hurdles created by Congress.

 He said the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) is being opened to help the Congress ministers and MLAs.

He demanded that a committee should be set up to inquire chief minister’s second son’s role as a shareholder in Matrix Imagine Solution Company. The report should be submitted by 15 days if the chief minister wants to prove his innocence, he challenged.