H.D. Kumaraswamy

MYSORE: Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy is confident that the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal will pronounce its final verdict on apportioning of the Cauvery waters without harming the interests of the riparian States.

He was speaking to presspersons in Bydarahalli village of Nagamangala Taluk in Mandya district on Tuesday.

Mr. Kumaraswamy said that he was confident that the tribunal would take an objective stance while pronouncing its verdict on apportioning of the Cauvery waters among Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.

Asked what the Government's strategy would be in case the verdict went against the State's interests, he said there was no reason for the tribunal to harm the interests of any riparian State, and hence there was no need to think along negative lines.

On induction of a woman into the Cabinet in the next expansion, Mr. Kumaraswamy said that welfare of women could not be brought about by merely offering a Cabinet berth to a woman. The Government had implemented several schemes for the welfare of women and was planning to do more, he said.

Asked whether there will be a woman member in the full Cabinet, Mr. Kumaraswamy said that one had to wait till the swearing-in ceremony scheduled for January 25, to know that.

He condemned the allegation that the Government had yielded to pressure from religious maths on the issue of providing egg in the midday meal for schoolchildren.

Loan waiver

Later, inaugurating the co-generation unit of Mysugar factory in Mandya, Mr. Kumaraswamy made it clear in unequivocal terms that there was no question of the Government retracing its steps on the issue of waiving farm loans in the cooperative sector. He clarified that there were no differences in the Cabinet over the issue. Mr. Kumaraswamy said that his overnight stay at the residence of an HIV patient in Bagalkot district had already made an impact.

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