The former Chief Minister and BJP national vice-president B.S. Yeddyurappa has demanded that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah release a White Paper on the facilities extended to backward and minority communities in the last two-and-a-half years.
Speaking to reporters after attending the Raitha Chaitanya Yatra here on Tuesday, he said the Chief Minister, who had himself claimed to be an AHINDA leader, had announced that he would protect the interests of AHINDA once he came to power.
However, so far he had not taken any steps for the betterment of backward and minority communities.
Immediately after coming to power, Mr. Siddaramaiah announced Anna Bhagya without studying the pros and cons of the scheme, while the Union government is providing rice and wheat at Rs. 2 per kg by purchasing it at Rs. 25 a kg.
But Mr. Siddaramaiah is projecting that the State government is helping the poor. “The Chief Minister should stop misguiding the people with his false statements,” he said.
Suicide
So far, 408 farmers have committed suicide in the State owing to crop loss, but the government does not have any exact record on the number of farmers who have ended their life.
It has not taken any steps to provide compensation to the families of these farmers. The sugarcane growers are in distress owing to non-payment of dues by mills, but the government is not ready to initiate action against owners of factories that are delaying payment to farmers, he added.
The State government has declared 135 taluks as drought-affected owing to scanty rainfall, but it has not clarified how much compensation is being released to these affected taluks to take up relief work, including supply of fodder and drinking water.
Kalburgi’s death
On the murder of litterateur M.M. Kalburgi in Dharward on Sunday, Mr. Yeddyurappa said that a thorough inquiry should be conducted in the matter and stringent action taken against those involved in the incident.
