The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Prakash to attend NDC meet today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Prakash to attend NDC meet today

Special Correspondent

Meeting to focus on agricultural growth

BANGALORE: Minister for Home M.P. Prakash will participate in the National Development Council meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday. Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy will not be attending the meeting since he is touring Chamarajanagar district and is also busy with the Ullal byelection.

Mr. Prakash told presspersons on Monday that the meeting would focus on issues related to agricultural growth and the reasons for its stagnation for the past few years. "We are targeting a doubling of the rate of growth in agriculture from less than 2 per cent a year to around 4 per cent as a key element in the strategy for inclusive growth," he said.

Mr. Prakash will present a paper highlighting the causes for stagnation in the farm sector and remedies for it. The State Government brought out a new agriculture policy last year, and it set the target for farm growth rate at 4 per cent a year.

Mr. Prakash, who also holds the Law portfolio, said the legal team representing the State before the Supreme Court on the Cauvery water dispute had gathered information from the departments concerned. "The team is fully prepared to argue the case before the apex court on the special leave petition filed by the Government challenging the tribunal award."

Headed by the eminent jurist Fali S. Nariman, who represented the State before the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, the team held a series of meetings with officials of the Water Resources and Law departments since Friday. Mr. Prakash met Mr. Nariman and discussed various topics.

Mr. Prakash said S.M. Veeramani, an expert in interlinking of rivers, made a presentation to the legal team on the flow of the Krishna river. Twelve sub-valleys of the Krishna originated in the basin.

The Nariman team also discussed various legal options available to the State to get its due share in the Krishna waters.

Personal opinion

Asked about Labour Minister Iqbal Ansari's remark that the coalition government in the State would continue under the leadership of Mr. Kumaraswamy after the completion of the 20-month term of the JD(S) at the helm, Mr. Prakash, who is also the president of the State unit of the JD(S), said it was Mr. Ansari's personal opinion. Mr. Kumaraswamy had already clarified the matter. The coordination committee meeting would resolve differences between the coalition partners, he said.

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