BJP Government is illegitimate child, Karjol is its minister: MLA M. B. Patil
Ex-Minister replies sharply to remarks of Karjol who called UKP as illegitimate child of Congress
BIJAPUR, Sept 29: Expressing anguish over the remarks of Water Resources Minister, Govind Karjol who has reportedly termed Upper Krishna Project as the ‘illegitimate child’ of the Congress, Former Water Resources Minister and MLA, M. B. Patil has responded sharply by describing the BJP government as ‘illegitimate child’ and Karjol as Minister of such a government.
Addressing media persons on Wednesday, he said that a veteran and dignified Minister such as Karjol should not have used such words and should not have stooped to that low while talking about UKP.
Reminding him that Almatti dam was launched during Congress government by Prime Minister, late, Lalbahadur Shastri, Patil said that majority of the major dams were constructed during the Congress era.
Recalling how on several occasions, Karjol has raised the issue of UKP and giving relief to farmers who are losing land, in assembly, Patil said when Karjol was in opposition, he was emotionally mentioning the issue of UKP.
“ Now that your government is in power and you are Water Resources Minister, why don’t you ensure that adequate funds are allocated for the project”, he said.
Stating that even Karjol and another Minister, Murgesh Nirani have advocated the need for giving compensation of Rs. 40 lakh per acre to the farmers losing land to the UKP project, Patil asked nearly Rs. 1 lakh crore in the coming budget for land acquisition, relief and rehabilitation.
Patil said that while the BJP had allocated Rs. 6450 crore for land acquisition and R&R, the Congress government had allocated Rs. 30,000 crore for the purpose.
Claiming that the BJP government has not ensured issuing of gazette notification for UKP-III for increasing the height of Almatti dam to 524 meters, despite the fact that BJP is ruling in State and the Centre, he challenged them to get it done.
Patil said that when he was Water Resources Minister, he did not wait for the gazette notification to be issued but started all head works related construction of canals for filling up of tanks.
“ Because of such a visionary and important decision taken, today we have completed a canal network of 1000 kilometers which has helped in filling the number of tanks in the district. This has led to recharging of thousands of borewells. The value of agricultural land has multiplied because of the water facility. Today, most of the farmers are earning higher profit from the lands, which is because of the decision taken by the Congress government”, he said.
Again reminding Karjol that it is their government and he has a greater chance to help the people of Bijapur and Bagalkot district, he asked him to just implement what he has said. “ Don’t listen to Congress, just do whatever you had promised for the people here”, he said.
Hoping that Karjol will do justice for the people here, Patil not only expressed his full support with him, but also warned him of not using absurd words against the Congress in future.
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Union government assumes full control over TV ratings, TRAI role curtailed: Report
New Delhi: The Union government has assumed full control over television audience measurement, removing the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) from oversight of the ratings system that underpins the country’s ₹36,000 crore television advertising market, according to a report published on Wednesday.
The report in Mint said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) now has exclusive authority over the framework governing how television ratings are measured and regulated. TRAI had been entrusted with oversight of TV ratings in 2012 during the UPA government’s tenure. TRAI is no longer mentioned in the relevant policy document, effectively vesting sole authority in the MIB.
The report said TRAI will continue to regulate other aspects of broadcasting, including channel pricing, advertising caps, interconnection and distribution norms, service quality and compliance standards. Its role in determining how ratings agencies track viewing behaviour has been withdrawn.
Television Rating Points (TRPs), which reflect viewership patterns, guide advertisers in deciding where to allocate spending across channels and time slots.
A government source quoted in the report said the ministry could modify TRAI’s decisions even when the regulator oversaw broadcasting.
A former CEO of Prasar Bharati told the newspaper that the MIB has historically regulated rating agencies through licensing and guidelines, and by holding them accountable under existing norms.
During its tenure overseeing ratings, TRAI had taken decisions affecting the broadcast sector, which included capping advertising time at 12 minutes per hour following complaints about excessive commercial breaks and it now remains unclear how these matters will be addressed under the revised arrangement.
Satya N. Gupta, former principal advisor at TRAI, was quoted as saying that merging regulatory functions with policy oversight and removing an independent regulator from the process was a retrograde step.
TRAI’s involvement in broadcasting had earlier attracted criticism as well. In 2012, its consultation paper on quantitative limits on television advertising was viewed by some as overlapping with the Advertising Standards Council of India’s code. Subsequent recommendations covering television audience measurement, ownership of news channels and issues such as paid news had also raised concerns among sections of the industry.
Television ratings have faced scrutiny in recent years, including during the controversy involving the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), where officials of the ratings body were prosecuted over allegations of manipulation of viewership data.
