The Hyderabad Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HKCCI), a body of industrialists and traders of Kalyana Karnataka region, has written to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urging her to incorporate the demands concerning the region in the Budget for 2020-21.
The letter was jointly written by Amarnath C. Patil and Shashikanth B. Patil, president and secretary of HKCCI respectively and it mentioned a number of pending projects and demands.
One of the major demands was the special grants for the Kalyana Karnataka Regional Development Board (KKRDB) that came into existence to implement the special status accorded to the region under Article 371(J) of the Constitution.
The Union government has not given any assistance to the Kalyana KKRDB stemming from Article 371(J) of the Constitution. The government has provided funding to Telangana and Vidharba regions which have special status and also enhanced assistance to North-Eastern regions by 21%. Hence, the KKRDB should also be given central assistance, the officer-bearers said in the letter.
The HKCCI also expressed its discontentment over the non-implementation of the National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ), and the Kalaburagi Railway Division, which were sanctioned in 2013.
They said that the Centre sanctioned NIMZ in 2013 and it has the potential of industrialisation of Kalaburagi district and providing employment to 2.6 lakh youths of the region.
Furthermore, they added that the
Railway division at Kalaburagi was announced in 2013 and that same year the foundation stone for the same was laid.
They added that 42 acres of land was acquired and earmarked for the Kalaburagi Railway Division and the land so acquired had been insulated by fencing.
“In the absence of a division of its own for Kalaburagi, the Kalyana Karnataka region is fragmented between five railway zones making it difficult for the people of the region,” they said in the letter.
The other demands include the establishment of a All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, procurement of equipment required for night landing at the newly-built Kalaburagi Airport, the establishment of Special Economic Zones, development of Solapur – Karnool six-lane National Highway to pass through Kalaburagi city, and projects to addressing the drinking water crisis in Kalaburagi city.
.jpg?w=600)
