HD Kumaraswamy hits out at Karnataka Minister for ordering recovery of 281 acres of HMT land
Bengaluru, Aug 13: Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries H D Kumaraswamy on Tuesday hit out at Karnataka Minister Eshwar Khandre over his administrative note giving 'clear instructions' to the state forest department to initiate measures to recover 281 acres from Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) Limited contending that it was a forest land.
Kumaraswamy asked the Forest Minister to "shed his pettiness" and cooperate with him to revive ‘the pride of Bengaluru’, which once ruled the watch market with 90 per cent market share but now was on the verge of closure.
“Doesn’t the pitiable condition of this PSU bring tears to your eyes, which had once captured 90 per cent of the market? Don’t you take pride in Karnataka? Should we come to power to close such plants? Mr Khandre, shed this pettiness,” he told reporters here.
He was referring to Khandre’s August nine administrative note where he cited the June 11, 1896 gazette notification showing that 599 acres in the survey number 1 in Peenya-Jalahalli in Bengaluru city was forest land. He said there are no records to show that the said land was gifted to the HMT as has been said.
Citing the Supreme Court ruling, “Once a forest is always a forest – Environment is more important than civil rights”, the Forest Minister had asked the Additional Chief Secretary (Forest, Wildlife and Ecology department) to initiate steps to recover 281 acres of vacant land out of 599 acres of HMT land.
Khandre’s move came days after Kumaraswamy visited HMT Limited and had a meeting with its officials for its revival.
Rubbishing the Forest Minister’s claim, Kumaraswamy, the JD(S) second-in-command, said the HMT plant that was visited by the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, former Prime Ministers Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi was set up by acquiring the land way back in 1958-59 and 1968-70.
According to him, the HMT made a profit of Rs 270 crore in 1970. With these funds, the HMT set up its units in Hyderabad, Uttarakhand, Ajmer and Kerala.
The tractor manufacturing unit in Pinjore town in Haryana was a big success, the Minister said, adding that the Tatas came up with its Titan brand and took away 350 engineers from HMT to their unit, which led to the downfall of the central PSU.
Kumaraswamy wondered why the state Forest Minister was "silent" for so many years.
“Why did the Minister write a note after remaining silent for so many decades? Can land be recovered on the basis of the Minister's ‘clear instruction’? On what basis he gave directions? Does he know the subject?” the Union Minister sought to know.
He said the portfolio he is entrusted with has 40 CPSUs. Out of them 27 are shut down and others are on the verge of closure.
He said he has been struggling hard to give a new lease of life to these PSUs. He added that he firmly believed that he can convince Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revive them.
“When I am putting in so much effort, all of a sudden you issue a note to take back land, which is worth Rs 10,000 crore,” Kumaraswamy said.
Underlining that the HMT paid for the land it owned, the Union Minister, citing documents, pointed out that on November 25, 1960 the Chief Conservator of Forests, Bengaluru was consulted in the matter for the release of land reports that the total area available for disposal was 283.57 acre as against 260 acres requested for HMT limited and the CCF said he has no objection to its grant.
“Nothing was taken for free. Everything was paid for. There is clarity here,” Kumaraswamy said, citing documents.
Questioning Khandre’s "intervention" in the matter, the Union Minister said: “You have given orders to acquire vacant land in a hurry. Whom you want to give this land to?”
He also read out a gazette notification citing the donation of land to HMT during the time of Mysuru Maharaja.
The JD(S) state chief sought to know how the property tax is collected from the HMT Limited if it was forest land.
“Don’t spoil the state for your grudge against HDK (Kumaraswamy). I am also trying to improve the Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant. Cooperate with us. This loot is enough now,” he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Ex-PM Devegowda warns opposition of electoral losses if they continue to allege 'vote chori'
New Delhi (PTI): Former Prime Minister H D Devegowda on Monday said the Opposition parties would "suffer" if they continue to raise allegations of "vote chori" and create suspicion in the minds of voters by blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.
Participating in a discussion on election reforms in the Rajya Sabha, he criticised the Opposition for making a mockery about the Prime Minister "in the streets and on the public platform".
"This (India) is a very big country. A large country. Congress may be in three states. Remember my friends please, by using the words 'vote chori' you are going to suffer in the coming days. You are not going to win the battle," Devegowda said, referring to the Opposition members.
He asked what the Opposition is going to earn by "blaming Narendra Modi's leadership and creating a suspicion in the mind of the voters" through the claims of "vote chori".
"What has happened to their minds? Let them rectify," Devegowda said.
ALSO READ: Search operation ends in Anjaw truck accident, 20 bodies recovered
The former prime minister said that during his over seven decades of public life, he has never raised such issues of vote theft despite facing defeat in elections.
He also cited a letter written by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru regarding inclusion of "18,000 votes" (voters) in Kerala.
"Why I am telling this (because) during the Nehru period also, there were certain lapses in the electoral system," said Devegowda, who was the prime minister between June 1, 1996 and April 21, 1997.
He said that the Congress party faced defeat in the recent Bihar elections despite raising the issues of mistakes in the electoral rolls.
"What happened after that even after so much review (of voters list). Think (for) yourself! You got six MLAs," the senior Janata Dal (Secular) leader said.
Devegowda questioned the Opposition as to why they want to make allegations against the prime minister on the issue of the voters list?
"Election Commission is there. Supreme Court is there. The Election Commission has given direction to all the state units to rectify all these things," he said.
Devegowda said people of the country have full confidence in Narendra Modi's government and it will come back to power after the next Lok Sabha elections as well.
K R Suresh Reddy, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party's Rajya Sabha member from Telangana, said that electoral reforms are the backbone for a healthy democracy.
He said a large and diverse nation like Indi needs clean electoral rolls.
Asserting that strict re-verification should not become a mechanism for exclusion, Reddy said no eligible voter should lose their right to vote simply because accessing paperwork is difficult.
He said while the concern definitely is on the voters' exclusion, "we should also be equally concerned about the percentage of voting."
"What is happening in voting today? Once the election ends, the drama begins. The biggest challenge that the Indian democracy has been facing in spite of two major Constitutional amendments has been the anti-defection. Anti-defection is the name of the game today, especially in smaller states, especially where the legislatures are small in number," Reddy said.
The senior BRS leader suggested creation of a parliamentary committee "which would constantly look into the defection" and "ways and means to cutting that".
AIADMK's M Thambidurai raised the issues related to election campaigning.
ALSO READ: National Herald case: Shivakumar to seek time next week to appear before Delhi police
"Election campaigns are one of the important election processes. In that, political parties must be given the proper chance to campaign," he said and cited problems faced by his party in Tamil Nadu in this regard.
Thambidurai said political parties were facing hardships in Tamil Nadu to conduct public meetings and to express their views to the public.
YSRCP's Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy stressed on bringing electoral reforms at both the state and national levels.
He also suggested replacing Electronic Voting Machines with paper ballots in all future elections.
"EVM may be efficient but can't be trusted. Paper ballot may not be efficient but can be trusted. You need trust in democracy," Reddy added.
