Karnataka - Hubli   

Govt. accused of wasting time on Ministry formation

By Our Special Correspondent

HUBLI, JUNE 8. The delay in the formation of a full-fledged Ministry has done considerable damage to the State, according to Basavaraj Bommai, Janata Dal (United) MLC and former Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council.

Mr. Bommai said the State had been without an effective Government ever since the elections were announced. The Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), the two coalition parties, appeared to be casual in getting down to the business of governance. They had frittered away their time in squabbles over the distribution of portfolios.

Some of the important departments such as Rural Development and Panchayat Raj remained headless. If the wrangling over portfolio allocation was anything to go by, Mr. Bommai said, the present dispensation appeared to be no different from its predecessor. The Bombay Karnataka region had been given a raw deal with the two Ministers from the region being allocated insignificant portfolios.

The Government had begun to drift when concerted action was needed to tackle major problems, Mr. Bommai said.

The State had been silent when Tamil Nadu was vigorously trying to rake up the Cauvery dispute.

To make matters worse, the State had no representation in the Union Cabinet.

The Dharam Singh Government's delay in taking action over the FIR filed by the CoD in the diversion of rice meant for the food-for-work programme was shocking. While he could understand the dilemma of Mr. Dharam Singh, he could not understand why the Janata Dal (S) Ministers should keep quiet. It would not be a surprise if the Janata Dal (S) helped in the cover-up operations to hush up the scandal.

Mr. Bommai said the studied silence on meeting the urgent needs of farmers, including seeds and fertilizers, was intriguing, now that farmers were poised to take up sowing. There had been no move to replenish the livestock, which had been lost because of continuous drought for the past four years, he added.

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