New Delhi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi here yesterday and presented a 5-point charter of demands to him, highlighting the State’s concerns over sugarcane pricing crisis and long pending irrigation project clearances.
Underlining the recent unrest among sugarcane farmers in Karnataka, Siddaramaiah conveyed the PM that the State had put in place an interim arrangement mandating an additional payment of Rs. 100 per tonne of sugarcane, with the Government itself sharing Rs. 50 of this burden. Terming the arrangement a stop-gap solution, the memorandum argued that the core issues lay with the Centre.
The CM urged the Prime Minister to revise the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for sugar — fixed at Rs. 31 per kg for several years — and also to ensure assured offtake of Ethanol from Karnataka’s distilleries.
Continuing, Siddaramaiah pressed for urgent intervention to break the deadlock on Multiple major irrigation projects, several of which have been awaiting Central approval for years. These included Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir project across river Cauvery along Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border, Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II, Upper Bhadra and Kalasa-Banduri.
While requesting the Centre to direct the Central Water Commission to expedite clearance for the Mekedatu project, Siddaramaiah sought an immediate Gazette Notification of Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal’s award that has been pending over a decade.
The Chief Minister made a strong case for setting up an AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) at Raichur, to boost healthcare infrastructure in Kalyana-Karnataka region.
Siddaramaiah further brought to the Prime Minister’s notice accumulated dues of Rs. 13,004 crore from the Centre to the State for implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) project aimed at providing piped water connection to every household.
On disaster relief, Siddaramaiah sought Rs. 2,136 crore under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for damage caused by this year’s unprecedented rains, which affected 19 lakh farmers, damaging crops on 14.5 lakh hectares.
The CM expressed hope that the Centre would extend support on both immediate concerns and long pending structural issues affecting the State.
