State will follow SC directions on Cauvery, says Kumaraswamy

The incessant monsoon rain in the Cauvery basin has made Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, who is running a fragile coalition with the Congress in the State, to be more vocal on the contentious issue. After meeting the Prime Minister in New Delhi Kumaraswamy said in a meet the press programme organised by Bengaluru Press Club and Bengaluru Reporters Guild here on Tuesday the State will not defy the directions given by the Supreme Court regarding formation of Cauvery Management Board by the Centre.

He said "We have no intention to violate the Apex Court direction, but our demand is that the Board should be formed in a Scientific manner and it should be first discussed in both the Houses of the Parliament before taking final decision on responsibilities of the Board".

Kumaraswamy said that there are several shortcomings in the powers given to the Board formation of which was already notified in the Gazette by the Union Government.

"The Board has been given power to measure the water level in the reservoirs of Cauvery basin every 10 days once and to submit report. It has been authorised to direct crops to be grown according to availability of water.  These are not acceptable for the State as it is our right to utilise the water according to our needs and farmers are very well aware about what crops they should be grow with the water available," he said.

"Moreover, water sharing is an Inter-State issue and before the Centre takes any decision on such issues should be discussed in the Parliament as per the Constitution.  Hence I have appealed to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the NITI Ayog meeting as well as during my interaction with him to bring the subject in the Parliament for discussion, he added.

He also assured the farmers that his collation government was committed to ease the loan burden of the farmers. However the farmer’s suicides in the state have continued unabated affecting the image of the government. To instill confidence in the farming community he assured the farmers that his government was working on a scientific formula to ensure that the waiver did not impact the state's financial resources. He said the state had a robust resource mobilisation system that had been appreciated all over. Any measure taken should ensure that the state fiscal responsibility act is not violated.  He said he would in a couple of days convene a meeting of bankers to discuss the waiver issue. 

He also announced that the government would make radical changes in the agricultural sector so that the agrarian economy improves tremendously and the financial conditions of farmers become sound.

"I am soon going to call a meeting with the nationalised banks to figure out the modalities to waive loans of farmers in a scientific way. Our government is highly committed to waiving farm loans," Kumaraswamy said at his maiden press conference here after assuming office on May 23.

He also  said he has  requested the Central government to bear 50 per cent of cost of the farm loans the state government plans to waive. "As we are ready to waive loans to free farmers from debt, I request the Central government to provide 50 per cent financial support to our initiative," he added.

He also wrote to the Prime Minister on Monday to allocate 25 per cent of Rs 2 lakh-crore special bonds the Central government plans to raise to bail-out state-run banks to waive farm loans across the country.

When asked about former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's remarks that supplementary budget would suffice and there was no need for a full fledged budget, he said a decision on this would be taken by the cabinet to be convened shortly. Based on his rich experience of having presented 13 budgets, Siddaramaiah might have made the suggestion, but the cabinet would have the final word. He indicated that the cabinet would also decide on the date for convening the  budget session in the First week or Second week of July.

On the Mahadayi issue he said Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari had clearly stated that the tribunal would give  its report in three months and there was no question of raising it at this juncture. Replying to a question he said that the current coalition government would run its full five year course and there need not be any doubt about it.

Chief Minister said his government will work for the all round development of the state and its citizens. "The state government will work towards presenting a scheme which allows all the farmers to get loans without any difficulty." The JD-S election manifesto had promised that it would waive farm loans within 24 hours of assuming office if it was voted to power with a majority. "Since we were not voted to power with a majority, we need to discuss with the other leaders in the coalition government," he said. 

Meanwhile the BJP has threatened to launch a state wide agitation if Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy fails to announce farm loan waiver in the budget. BJP state president and leader of the opposition BS Yeddyurappa said the JD (S) in its election manifesto had promised farm loan waiver within 24 hours after coming to power, but now Kumaraswamy and his father JD (S) supremo HD Deve Gowda are giving an excuse that they need to take permission from the Congress.

He said “In the farmers meeting (on May 30) that he had convened, the CM had stated that he would waive loans within 15 days, but it has not been done even now. It has to be announced it in the budget or the BJP will launch state wide agitation. “