Govt. has curbed corruption: Krishna

By Our Staff Correspondent

DAVANGERE, AUG. 21. The Chief Minister, Mr. S. M. Krishna, on Tuesday said that one of the major achievements of his Government was curbing corruption at all levels of administration. He told presspersons here that the Government had ensured transparency and accountability in the administration.

Stating that such level of transparency and accountability was unheard of in the past, he said that in departments such as Public Works and Irrigation, where transparency and accountability were missing, the Government had brought them into practice.

``I cannot say that I will eradicate the evil of corruption completely and neither am I so optimistic,'' Mr. Krishna said and added that steps would be taken to further curb corruption in the administration.

The Government was contemplating giving more powers to the Lok Ayukta, he said and disclosed that the Lok Ayukta had sent him some recommendations in this regard. He said he had sent the recommendations to the Law Department for its approval.

Mining for 5 more years

When his attention was drawn to mining activities in Kudremukh and the protest by people in Shimoga and Chikmagalur, Mr. Krishna said mining could not be stopped all of a sudden. The Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited would operate there for another five years. The Government had made it clear (to the company) that five years later it would have to look out for another place to carry out its operation.

It was not easy to direct a company, which had become a lifeline for thousands of people, to close down immediately, he said and added that the activities of the New Mangalore Port largely depended on the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited. Many economic activities in Dakshina Kannada depended on the iron ore company. He and his Cabinet colleagues had studied every aspect threadbare after the Chairman of the company met him in Bangalore. They had decided to allow the company to operate for another five years. The Chairman was told that the company had to stop mining activities after five years, he said.

Charge `baseless'

On the drought situation, Mr. Krishna said that he had sent a proposal for Rs. 900 crores to the Union Government. However, drought relief work was going on briskly in the affected areas. He termed the State BJP President, Mr. Basavaraj Patil Sedam's allegation that drought relief works had not been taken up as ``baseless.''

The Chief Minister denied the charge made by Mr. Sedam that funds sanctioned by the Union Government were not spent on time and said that the Centre had not sent guidelines to the State Government on time. Hence, there was delay in the implementation of some programmes. The Government would not allow funds to go unused, he said.

When Mr. Krishna was asked if there would be power shortage owing to the failure of monsoon, he said the Government was prepared to face such an eventuality. The Government would tap the available power sources and make an agreement in this regard, he added.

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