)
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today submitted a memorandum in this regard to Union minister for food and civil supplies Ram Vilas Paswan at New Delhi.
The chief minister also requested the Centre to increase the percentage of Ethnol in petroleum products to 10 per cent immediately. This would help sugar mills to procure cane from farmers at the price fixed by the state government and start crushing.
Siddaramaiah also urged the Centre to relax norms for Karnataka in the purchase of maize for distribution through PDS shops. In Karnataka maize is not widely consumed as food and so it is not distributed through the public distribution system, he said.
Later, talking to reporters, Siddaramaiah said the state government would file an appeal in the Supreme Court on the Kasturi Rangan report on Western Ghats based on the recommendations of the cabinet sub-committee, which is studying the report.
"We will request the Supreme Court to extend the deadline for filing an appeal against the Kasturi Rangan Report. Many legislators and members of parliament have expressed concern on the implementation of the report in Western Ghats. We have also directed deputy commissioners of the districts falling in Western Ghats region to mobilise opinion of villagers and produce in the Court," he said.
He said the government has also urged the ministry of railways to take up immediately 14 pending railway projects in Karnataka, for which the previous UPA government had issued clearances. The state government is ready to provide required land for those projects and also release its share of funds, he said.
The state government has also requested the Centre to immediately release the second installment of Rs 2,204 crore for implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (MGNREGA).
He also requested members of parliament from Karnataka to put pressure on the Central government for immediate approval for setting up of Biomolecular Engineering Centre near the Kempegowda International Airport. The state government has sent a proposal to Centre for Rs 490 crore in the first phase and Rs 250 crore in the second phase and waiting for the approval. The state government would provide 20 acre land, which has been already identified.
The chief minister also urged the central government to allow the opening of airport at Bidar, for which GMR Infrastructure Limited has raised objection. The airport falls within 150 kms from the Hyderabad international airport, which is operated by GMR Infrastructure. The state government has spent Rs 3.5 crore for building an airport terminal, he added.
