Aishwarya Rai Not Paid any Money by Yeddy Regime, says Katti

From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Mar 18: Even as Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa is fighting to save his gaddi from the internal bickering within the ruling BJP, the State Government was forced to issue a clarification over reports huge sums of money had been paid to popular Bollywood actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to attend the recent Vishwa Kannada Sammelan at Belgaum.

Agriculture Minister Umesh V Katti, who is also the district in charge minister of the border district of Belgaum and had taken a leading role in organising the three-day mega event, on Friday told reporters in Bangalore that the State Government had not paid any money to the former Miss World and popular Hindi actor, who hails from coastal Dakshina Kannada district.

''All that the State Government did was to make special flight arrangements for the actor from Mumbai to Belgaum and return journey," the minister said declaring that the State Government had not paid any money to her.

The Minister’s statement assumes significance in the wake of reports that the government had paid huge amount of money to bring the former Miss World to the mega World Kannada Conference being held after a gap of 25 years allegedly to bolster the sagging image of Yeddyurappa.

The Minister claimed that the State Government had invited several Hindi actors from Karnataka, including actor Shilpa Shetty, but they could not participate due to their hectic schedule.

The world Kannada meet was inaugurated by Infosys founder, N R Narayan Murthy and Ms Rai was the special guest. Several leading Kannada film personalities had participated.

Referring to complaints regarding non-payment of honorarium to artistes who staged several programmes during the meet, Katti said a sum of Rs 2.34 crore had been set aside for the purpose.

The officials, who were in Belgaum, returned to Bangalore a few days after the event and the honorarium would be given to all artistes in a few days, he said.

Noting that nearly 40 lakh people participated in the meet from various districts, he said the State Government had spent Rs 40 crore to hold the event on a grand manner.

Interest Waiver for Ashraya beneficiaries, if they clear loan

All beneficiaries of the State Government’s Ashraya Housing Scheme will enjoy the benefit of waiver of interest waiver on their housing loan if they cleared the entire principal amount of the loan, Housing Minister V Somanna announced.

The Minister said as many as 16 lakh beneficiaries borrowed loans of up to Rs 10,000 for construction of houses under the Ashraya scheme but have not paid the principal amount since late 1980s.

The officials have been asked to formulate guidelines for implementing the scheme and the department has expected recover of Rs 700 crore, while the interest waiver amount would be around Rs 1,085 crore, Somanna said.

The State Government decided to announce the interest waiver scheme on loans if families paid the principal amount borrowed from boards and corporations for construction of houses.

The recovered principal amount would be utilized for expediting execution of several housing schemes, he said.

The department had set a target of constructing 2.96 lakh houses under the Ashraya Scheme till March 2013.

The total subsidy for each house is Rs 63,000, and the Centre granted Rs 33,000 subsidy for construction of one lakh houses a year. The department urged the Chief Minister to enhance the subsidy to Rs 75,000, the Minister added.

About 50,000 houses would be constructed under the Vajapayee Housing scheme in the next two years in urban areas.

Scarcity of lands and reluctance on the part of the slum dwellers to shift their residence were the major problems affecting construction of houses in cities, he pointed out.