Date:06/10/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/10/06/stories/2004100602460500.htm

Karnataka

`Evolve package to tackle unemployment'

By Our Staff Correspondent

TUMKUR, OCT. 5. The senior Congress leader and former Tumkur MP, G.S. Basavaraju, on Tuesday urged the Government to evolve a special package to tackle unemployment.

Addressing presspersons here, Mr. Basavaraju said that the Congress had promised to pay a fixed monthly allowance to unemployed youth. But, the party could not keep the promise as its coalition partner in the Government, the Janata Dal (Secular), was not enthusiastic about the matter, he said.

He said that he had drawn up a draft package, after consulting experts in all fields concerned, with special reference to Tumkur district and would prevail upon the Government to give serious thought to it and introduce as a pilot project.

Power supply

Mr. Basavaraju said that it could be that either the officials of ESCOMs (electrical supply companies) were misreporting to the Power Minister, H.D. Revanna, or the latter could be lying to the people in the matter of power supply to farmers. "Mr. Revanna has claimed that power was supplied to farmers for 20 hours a day, and it will be reduced to 14 hours. But, in reality, power is supplied to farmers for barely three to four hours a day," he said.

Water users' bodies

Mr. Basavaraju said that the Government should strengthen the water users' cooperative bodies, which were formed during the last three years.

He said that there were 36,000 tanks and the previous Government had initiated action towards forming local bodies to protect them. He urged that the Government provide grants to the bodies to develop tanks.