The Hindu : Front Page : State ready to swap border villages with Maharashtra

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Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006
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State ready to swap border villages with Maharashtra

S. Rajendran

But it should be as per Mahajan panel report: Kumaraswamy

BANGALORE: Karnataka has expressed its willingness to transfer a number of villages and towns along the border to Maharashtra if that State is willing to do the same as specified in the Mahajan Commission report.

A State delegation is planning to call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and argue the case for the implementation of the Mahajan Commission report.

The two Houses of the State Legislature on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution. The State Government would ask the Centre to be "non-partisan" on inter-State issues.

Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy told The Hindu here on Tuesday that Karnataka was ready to transfer 262 villages to Maharashtra provided the latter transferred 248 villages to Karnataka.

"The Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister has made a statement on the transfer of villages along the border and we are willing to do the same provided it is in accordance with the recommendations of the Mahajan Commission," he said.

Protest

The State Government would register its protest with the Centre over the participation of Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra R.R. Patil in an anti-Karnataka meeting called by the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samithi here on Monday and the inflammatory statements that he had made.

"It is highly improper and unethical for the Deputy Chief Minister of a neighbouring State to come here and make such a statement which is anti-constitutional in the sense that it is against the spirit of federalism."

In the Legislative Council, Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa said it was clear that this was a ploy of Maharashtra to divide Belgaum and differentiate between Kannadigas and Marathi-speaking people. He said apart from writing to the Prime Minister and to Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, the Government was planning to take an all-party delegation to the Prime Minister on the issue.

Business

After the show of unity on the first day of the special legislature session in Belgaum, the two Houses of the legislature started discussions on routine business, including certain important subjects such as the issue pertaining to primary schools, which had violated the rule on the medium of instruction, primacy to Kannada language, and the drought prevailing in the State.

A large part of the day was spent on discussing the hasty manner in which the Government had called the legislature session and the lack of courtesy in involving the Opposition parties.

Mr. Kumaraswamy told The Hindu that the Cabinet meeting to be held here on Wednesday would sanction a host of development projects for Belgaum and the border areas.

Ring road

This included a 30-km ring road for Belgaum at a cost of Rs. 145 crore, a good underground drainage system for the city at a cost of Rs. 60 crore and special incentives for entrepreneurs keen on starting industrial units in the region.

The Chief Minister would be laying the foundation stone on Thursday for a replica of the Vidhana Soudha to conduct a session of the legislature in Belgaum every year. The project was estimated to cost Rs. 230 crore.

It would come up on a 200-acre plot and apart from the government offices, it would have 600 rooms for legislators and officials.

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