The last few moments in the Legislative Council before the House was adjourned sine die on Tuesday remained tense for the treasury benches as a Bill passed by the Assembly in the morning was not taken up amid a flurry of activities and requests by the Ministers to Chairman K. Prathapchandra Shetty.
One of the Bills, the Karnataka Regulation of Stone Crushers Amendment Bill, 2020, had been passed in the Assembly and had to be passed by the Council, since the current licences of the crushers would come to an end on March 31. The other was an amendment to the Panchayat Raj Act.
As Mr. Shetty started reading out the details of business conducted during the session, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy and Mines and Geology Minister C.C. Patil rushed to Mr. Shetty and sought permission twice to move the Bill in the Council. In a last-ditch attempt, the Mines Minister approached Leader of the Opposition S.R. Patil to convince him on the urgency with which the Bill had to be passed. However, Mr. Shetty did not heed to the multiple requests made by Ministers, and adjourned the House sine die soon after reading out the details.
The Bill, according to Mr. C.C. Patil, had many changes from the existing law that would cut red tape. The disappointed Minister said, “The Bill entails declaration of safe zones, demarcation from main roads, allowing the legal heir of the licensee to continue with the licence, and extension of licence period from the current five years to 20 years.”
Later, sources said that the stone crushers Bill was important because the licences of about 1,200 crushers in the State would expire on March 31, and that work would come to a standstill unless an Ordinance was promulgated. “This could lead to loss of revenue, and gap in demand and supply that could hurt construction of buildings and roads, among others, and could even lead to illegal activities,” sources said.
