BENGALURU: Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Tuesday urged MPs to convince the Centre to let the state issue bonds in financial market to raise resources for the farm loan waiver scheme. He also asked them to speak to the Centre about getting more aid for relief works in the state and stopping Tamil Nadu MPs from protesting in the Parliament against the proposed Mekedatu project.
Interacting with the MPs ahead of the Parliament session, the CM said Karnataka is yet to get any response from the Centre about issuing bonds to mobilise funds for the farm loan waiver scheme.He added that 15 proposals related to various departments such as agriculture, industries and defence are pending before the Centre. “Ministers of Defence, and Road Transport and Highways have responded positively to our requests and have issued instructions to their officers. However, infrastructure projects in the state have been delayed as the local officers have not done anything about them,” the CM said.
The CM apprised the MPs about various measures taken to protect the state’s interests in inter-state disputes and urged them to defend the state’s cause. Tamil Nadu MPs are likely to protest against the approval given to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) for the Mekedatu project.
The MPs also discussed about meeting the Union Finance Minister and other ministers to approve the state government’s proposals. They also discussed the need for bringing pressure on the Centre to release funds to tackle drought in at least 100 taluks.