VIJAYAPURA: Nearly a month after the state cabinet withdrew its approval for a lease-cum-sale of land deal with JSW Steel Ltd, MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal penned a letter to Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa asking for 500 acres of land to set up a gaushala, offering Rs 50,000 more per acre than the amount fixed in the deal with the Jindal Group.
In a letter addressed to Yediyurappa on Saturday, Yatnal wrote, “Shri Siddeshwara Samasthe has already set up a gaushala in Kaggodu village accommodating over 1,000 cows of desi breed. The gaushala is also being used to develop desi breeds, carry out research on them and protect cows. Now, the same organization has planned to set up a model gaushala in the state with a capacity to accommodate at least 10,000 cows. In order to build the gaushala, there is a necessity of 500 acres of land.”
“Fixing a price of Rs 1.5 lakh per acre, the state government has already given land to Jindal Steels Limited. The government imposing similar terms and conditions made with Jindal can give the land to Shri Siddeshwara Samasthe. We are ready to pay Rs 2 lakh per acre and will also abide by the terms and conditions agreed with Jindal.”
“As per the Hindu religion, protecting desi cows and improving their breed is a holy work and we are committed to it. The government can give 500 acres of land in any part of the state at the cost of Rs 2 lakh per acre to set up the gaushala. It should also move this plea to the subcommittee of Ministers Basavaraj Bomai, Jagadish Shettar and R Ashok and get it approved by them.”
“The state government can approve this proposal in a similar fashion that it approved land for Jindal. It will help us start the construction work to set up the gaushala,” said Yatnal in his one-page letter to the CM penned on Saturday.
It may be noted that Yatnal was among the ruling party MLAs who criticised and opposed the state government decision to give 3,666 acres of land to JSW at a throwaway price recently. After coming under fire from elected members, the state cabinet withdrew its approval for a lease-cum-sale of land deal with JSW Steel Ltd in the last week of May.