Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SB)

Mangaluru, Feb 15: MLC Ivan D’Souza, chief whip, state Legislative Assembly slammed Anupriya Patel, minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for her statement on areca nut in parliament in December last year.

Addressing media on Thursday, February 15, he said, “Minister Anupriya Patel said that usage of areca nut leads to cancer. If it is so, then why is the union government permitting to import areca nut from other countries? The government’s agenda is to crush the farmers who are engaged in the cultivation of areca nut. The import of areca nut will affect our farmers badly.

“The MPs of our state are mum on the minister’s statement, especially the MPs from the coastal region. They are not doing anything for areca nut farmers. The union minister’s statement has made it clear that even the union government is not bothered about areca nut farmers. Our state cultivates areca nut on 2.64 lac hectare. Our total production is 4.13 lac tones every year. Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Kodagu, Chitradurga, Davangere, Tumkuru, Mysuru, and Chamrajanagar are the main districts which have large number of areca nut farmers. Many a times, changing weather and fertility of soil leads to shortage in production of areca nut. At the same time, the government is importing areca nut from foreign countries. It is destroying Indian farmers’ market. Hence, the union government should act immediately on this issue and should provide a proper market to Indian farmers.

“I have already raised this issue in the state assembly. Once the issue is discussed, I will try to get a solution from the state government for our farmers. We need a separate board for areca nut farmers. To help the cause, a committee has been already formed under the leadership of vice chancellor of University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot. This committee submitted a report and it is now under the consideration of the government,” he said.

International standard cricket stadium at Bondel

“We all MLA s and ministers have demanded for a cricket stadium at Bondel. The land is also finalised. Either Karnataka State Cricket Academy or Dakshina Kannada Cricket Association should take the initiative of building the stadium. If either of them comes forward to take the responsibility, we will lend full support, said Ivan.