Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah announces crop loan interest waiver

On the last day of the Belagavi legislature session and amid protests by the BJP, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced measures aimed at North Karnataka, including an interest waiver for crop loans whose principal amount is repaid by farmers.

Siddaramaiah also announced the formation of a new high-power committee to study regional imbalances even as he conceded that development remained lopsided despite expenditure of Rs 32,433 crore to fight backwardness. 

To create jobs in North Karnataka, Siddaramaiah said industrial clusters will come up at Belagavi (2,000 acres), Dharwad (3,000 acres), Vijayapura (1,500 acres) and Raichur. 

Siddaramaiah made the announcements during his reply to the debate on North Karnataka in the Assembly. He urged lawmakers from the region not to demand a separate statehood. "That will amount to betraying those who fought for the state's unification. Our government is committed to the development of every taluk," he said. 

Opposition leader R Ashoka led his BJP MLAs to a walkout accusing the government of making false promises. The BJP demanded a crop loan waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh and a compensation of Rs 25,000 per hectare to drought-hit farmers. 

According to Siddaramaiah, the interest waiver will apply to medium-term and long-term crop loans at cooperative banks across the state.

The new high-power committee on regional imbalances will be asked to submit its report within six months, Siddaramaiah said. This will be the successor of the D M Nanjundappa Committee which, in its 2002 report, identified 114 out of 175 taluks as backward and recommended funding under a special development plan, which started in 2007. 

Siddaramaiah said the government had allocated Rs 46,453 crore against which expenditure was Rs 32,433 crore. "Still, regional imbalances haven't gone," he said. 

At Belagavi, a 500-acre foundry cluster will be set up and the government would give "special focus" to attract aerospace-based industries to the district, Siddaramaiah said. The focus in Raichur will be on cotton-based industries, he added. 

Siddaramaiah further said that the state government would prepare an action plan to promote tourism across North Karnataka.

Lastly, the government will upgrade the Water and Land Management Institute (WALMI) at Dharwad into a centre of excellence, the CM said. 

'All-party delegation'

Siddaramaiah said his government is ready to take an all-party delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking drought relief funds and clearances to irrigation projects. "I have asked for an appointment, but haven't received any reply. Why don't you get me an appointment?" he told BJP MLAs.