Centre not allocating coal, says CM Kumaraswamy
Bengaluru, Oct 23: As a power crisis looms large in Karnataka in the wake of acute coal shortage, chief minister H.D Kumaraswamy Tuesday said the Centre was not allocating the state's share of coal despite repeated requests.
Kumaraswamy also pulled up the state electricity department officials for not acting in time and for failure to inform him about the situation in advance.
Karnataka is staring at a power crisis in the wake of zero coal reserve in Raichur Thermal Power Plant.
Talking to reporters here, the chief minister said requests had been sent to the Centre in the last two months for coal supply and he had also drawn the attention of the Union Coal Minister Piyush Goyal recently through a tweet to the situation.
Kumaraswamy said he had convened a meeting of electricity department officials to take corrective measures to minimise loadshedding due to power shortage.
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Waqf Bill anti-secular, will snatch rights of Muslims: Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday described the Waqf (Amendment) Bill as “anti-secular”, claiming that it would snatch the rights of Muslims.
Banerjee, speaking in the assembly, also said the Centre did not consult with states over the matter.
“The bill is anti-federal and anti-secular; it is a deliberate attempt to malign a particular section. It will snatch the rights of Muslims... The Centre did not consult with us on the Waqf Bill,” she said.
The chief minister added that “if any religion was attacked”, she would wholeheartedly condemn it.
Opposition parties have stridently criticised the amendments proposed by the bill in the existing Waqf Act, alleging that they violate the religious rights of Muslims.
The ruling BJP has asserted that the amendments will bring transparency in the functioning of the Waqf boards and make them accountable.
A parliamentary committee has been constituted to scrutinise the contentious bill.
