The Hindu : Karnataka News : Centre to provide funds to ease water shortage in 12 districts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 17, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Centre to provide funds to ease water shortage in 12 districts

Staff Correspondent

State should submit master plan: Minister

FOR RURAL AREAS: The Union Minister for Rural Development, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, inaugurating an employment generation programme at Suttur village, near Mysore, on Thursday. (From left) The Karnataka Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Ra j, H.C. Mahadevappa; the Suttur Mutt pontiff, Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji; the Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah; the Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, H.S. Mahadeva Prasad; and the Chamarajanagar MP, M. Shivanna, are seen.

MYSORE: The Union Minister for Rural Development, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, said on Thursday that Karnataka has been requested to submit a master plan to tackle water shortage in 12 drought-prone districts to enable the Centre provide financial assistance.

He was inaugurating a Rs. 14.85-crore employment generation programme for people in 420 villages in 25 districts, at Suttur village, near here. The programme, which will be implemented by J.S.S. Mahavidyapeetha and entrepreneurs under the Swarna Jayanthi Gram Swarozgar Yojana, will receive funds from the Union and State governments.

The Minister said 12 districts in the State, including Kolar, Bidar, Bijapur and Chitradurga, are facing an acute water shortage. The Union Government has released Rs. 154 crores to overcome the crisis in the State. The country will make progress only through rural development, and people from underprivileged sections should be trained for self-employment, the Minister said.

Commending the employment generation programme, the Union Minister said it will help remove poverty in rural areas. He announced that Central funds will be made available to the dairy project proposed by J.S.S. Mahavidyapeetha.

Complimenting the Suttur Mutt pontiff, Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji, Mr. Singh said more religious institutions should take up rural projects.

Presiding over the function, the Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, said command area development will receive a higher allocation in the next budget. As the water table has gone down drastically, the Government will give priority to command area development, he added.

He said the interest rates on farm loans should be brought down to six per cent. This will benefit a large number of farmers. The Government is encouraging farmers to become members of cooperative societies to enable them to seek financial assistance. The Government has set a target of enrolling about 10 lakh farmers as members of societies, he added.

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