BELGAUM: The special session of the legislature created history of an unexpected kind when the Congress, the main Opposition in the Legislative Council, staged an all-night dharna in the well of the House on Thursday.

The reason: they were unhappy with the "light-hearted response" of Revenue Minister Jagadish Shettar to their concerns about the way drought relief works were being undertaken and the manner in which funds were spent.

The House was in session till well after midnight, when Mr. Shettar began to respond to the discussion on drought. At the end of his reply, the Congress members began to protest loudly and trooped into the well of the House, where they remained all night, declaring that they would not end the dharna until the Government gave them the answers they wanted.

Leader of the Opposition H.K. Patil contended that Mr. Shettar had deliberately chosen to reply so late in the night when there were no media representatives present or even officers to assist him.

Main complaint

The main complaint of the Congress was that when many members who had participated in the discussion on drought had repeatedly mentioned the large-scale exodus of the labour population from places such as Koppal, which meant that many families went away and children's schooling was affected, Mr. Shettar said it was not as serious as was being made out to be. They also questioned the claim that the Government had started to open goshalas in drought-hit taluks, but in some places the farmers said they did not require them.

Marithibbe Gowda (independent) criticised the Government for its evasive response to the concerns of the Opposition about children of migrant families losing out on school. He said the Government was obfuscating issues by taking about the funds released for drought relief in the 122 drought-hit taluks.

There was no break-up or taluk-wise assessment of damage and need for relief.

When the House met on Friday morning, the Congress resumed the dharna, and it took the persuasive powers of Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and a meeting in the chambers of acting Chairman Sachidanand Khot to get them to end the dharna. Mr. Patil demanded a House Committee to monitor the implementation of the drought relief programme and Rs. 5 crore for each taluk.

Yediyurappa's assurance

The matter was settled after Mr. Yediyurappa said the Government had written to the Centre suggesting that the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme be extended to 200 days. He had also sought clearance from the Centre to divert Rs. 158 crore that had not been used from the previous year's grant for drought-relief works.

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