Siddaramaiah urged to focus on industry

'The chief minister has chiefly devoted his attention to social upliftment'

While congratulating on completing one year in office, the Mysore Industries Association (MIA), representing industries in Mysore, Mandya and Chamarajanagar districts, has appealed to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to bestow greater attention for the economic and industrial development of Karnataka during his second year term.

“The chief minister has chiefly devoted his attention towards social upliftment of the down-trodden, poor and weaker sections in the first year, aiming to fulfil promises made in the party’s manifesto. He should now concentrate on the economic and industrial development of the state,” MIA General Secretary Suresh Kumar Jain said today.

Jain told Business Standard, Siddaramaiah had implemented social upliftment programmes like ‘Anna Bhagya,’ ‘Ksheera Bhagya’, loan waiver among others. But, in the second year, he must devote more attention towards the state’s industrial growth and help industries overcome issues they are facing.

The only major decision he had taken to help industry was to introduce a long term policy for leasing KIADB sites on a par with other states, curbing the misuse of sites allotted by the KIADB, and also benefiting the genuine entrepreneurs to get KIADB land.

Jain said, the MIA addressed a letter to the CM highlighting the MIA’s pleas on various industrial issues which pointed out that Mysore was developing as an industrial region next only to Bangalore and needed urgent attention. “The CM, district incharge minister V Sreenivasa Prasad, the Public Works and the Co-operation Ministers, who are from Mysore, should devote attention towards the requirements of industry owners and workers, resolving problems persisting since a decade, and target new schemes for industrial development in the Mysore region.

On the allocation of sites for industries, they bemoaned that even after 22 months, the sub-committee meeting had not been convened.

Between August 2012 and October 15, 2013, over 250 industrialists and entrepreneurs sought industrial sites after depositing Rs 16 crore as the initial deposit. They were losing around Rs 16.50 lakh as interest on these deposits, while the KIADB was benefiting.

According to the Industry Act, an endorsement should be given within 45 days. With no such action, the first-time industry movers had decided to be employees rather than entrepreneurs, they said, demanding immediate allotment of sites and interest payment on deposits made by them.