Date:03/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/03/stories/2008100356010800.htm

Karnataka

Kumaraswamy’s charge false: Narendraswamy

Staff Correspondent

‘Chief Minister’s popularity has made JD(S) leader jealous’

P.M. Narendraswamy

DAVANGERE: P.M. Narendraswamy, Minister for Women and Child Development, has rejected the allegations made by H.D. Kumaraswamy, Janata Dal (S) leader and former Chief Minister, that Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa received kickbacks in the Bhagyalakshmi scheme.

He said the State Government was yet to decide the insurance company where the deposit amount of the beneficiaries should be kept.

Talking to presspersons here on Thursday, Mr. Narendraswamy said the Government would call for tenders in accordance with the KTPP (Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement) Act.

It would study which insurance firm offered more facilities and decide which company to be involved in the implementation of the Bhagyalakshmi scheme.

The Government was going to deposit Rs. 15,000 crore a year with the insurance company in the names of the beneficiaries.

Mr. Narendraswamy said that he was pained by the baseless allegations made by Mr. Kumaraswamy. He said that the Janata Dal (S) was making such allegations as he had become jealous of the Chief Minister’s popularity.

Commended

The Minister commended the Union Government for bringing in legislation that provides for taking action against those who neglected their aged parents.

He said that many people neglected their parents who were forced to live in old-age homes.

He said that there was a rise in the number of old-age homes in the State and attributed it to the attitude of children towards their parents.

It was the duty of children to take care of their parents when they grow old, the Minister said and added that abandoning it was inexcusable.

Funds released

The Government had released an initial sum of Rs. 20 lakh to each district for construction of a market complex exclusively for SHG (self-help groups) to market their products.

He said that the Government wanted to provide a permanent market place for SHGs with a view to improving the economic condition of the members.

To a question, the Minister said there were 21,000 Devadasis in the State and the Government had introduced schemes to rehabilitate them. He said that the Cabinet, at its recent meeting in Gulbarga, decided to initiate legal action against those who falsely claimed to be Devadasis to get benefits.

Agriculture Minister S.A.Ravindranath and Mayakonda MLA Basavaraja Naik were present.