MYSURU: The Raitha Dasara event at the ongoing Dasara celebrations turned out to be a platform for Agriculture Minister Chaluvarayaswamy and other ministers to hit out at the Union government and BJP.
At the inauguration of the event, the ministers said the Centre has ignored pleas of the state government on the Cauvery and drought situation despite it being a federal system. “The people should be aware of these developments and give a befitting reply during the elections instead of being carried away by BJP’s bundle of lies,” they said.
Chaluvarayaswamy said that for the first time in the country, the state government was not given time to meet central leaders and apprise them of the situation. “MPs from the state too did not show any interest, while the Prime Minister has not given us time for the last two months. The Union minister and officers too did not give an appointment,” he charged.
He said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Irrigation Minister DK Shivakumar, who is also the deputy chief minister, showed their commitment to present the state’s case before the Supreme Court and Cauvery River Monitoring Authority. "We have given the water demanded by Tamil Nadu to ensure the drinking water needs of the people. The state would have suffered further if the government had not presented its case seriously,” he claimed.
The state has declared 221 taluks as drought-hit, as per the Union government guidelines and sought Rs 5,020 crore relief. “We wanted to apprise the Centre of the situation but we were not given time despite writing three letters,” he said.
The government has implemented four out of five guarantees that are women-centric and has increased the income of the families, he added.
Animal Husbandry Minister K Venkatesh said the Congress government has increased milk prices by Rs 3 per litre and financial assistance of Rs 5 per litre to help farmers.
Warning that the state would be hit by scarcity of water, he said farmers should take up fisheries, sericulture and agriculture and adopt new technology.
District in-charge minister HC Mahadevappa said the agriculture sector and farmers are in deep trouble because the Centre is not extending support as anticipated.