Bache Gowda Rallies Round Yeddyurappa in Attacking Cong Yatra
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Aug 4: It is now the turn of Karnataka’s Labour Minister B N Bache Gowda, after state BJP president K S Eashwarappa, to lambast the Congress party’s ``Bellary Chalo” yatra on the illegal mining issue.
The Vokkaliga leader from Bangalore rural district, however, opposed any move to disrupt the padayatra to disrupt the Congress yatra and held that any attempts to disrupt the yatra would be playing into the hands of the opposition parties in seeking to discredit the B S Yeddyurappa regime.
"The Congress’ action in launching the yatra when the chief minister had ordered a comprehensive probe by the Lokayukta into the entire illegal mining issue since 2000 and the decisions on banning export or transportation of iron ore is shameless,” he said.
But in a parliamentary democracy everybody has a right to take out protests on their own way. They are doing their padayatra. There should be no attempt to disrupt it, the minister contended.
Asked about his cabinet colleague and Health Minister B Sriramulus’ apprehensions about a trouble in Bellary when the Congress rally entered the town next week, he said it was not good to disturb the rally taken out by the Congress. The Congress’s rally would culminate in Bellary on August 9.
He, however, felt that the Congress party’s protest has no political significance now and would be forgotten by the people before long.
On the question of an alliance with the Janata Dal (S), the minister said the question of forming a government with the support of JD(S) does not arise and there is no other issue to strike a pact with the Opposition party, he said.
The BJP has decided to divisional level conferences to create awareness among the people about the achievements of the government during the last two years.
Training-Cum-Residential Complex Near Peenya
Bache Gowda, who is holding the labour department, said his department has proposed to construct a training-cum residential complex to provide training in various industrial trades at near Peenya in the city.
He said the building would be constructed on eight acres land belonged to the Department and it would be used only for providing training and camps for labourers in different sectors. The exact cost of the building and facilities to be provided to labourers would be worked out soon, he said.
The Karnataka Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board has collected Rs. 540 crore cess from various construction companies and a portion of the fund would be used for construction of the building, he said.
According to The Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, construction companies (both private and government) should remit a cess of 1 per cent of the cost (projects cost exceeding Rs. 10 lakh) to the welfare board. The board has so far disbursed Rs. 68 lakh out of the fund to 1348 labourers who met with accidents or undergone surgeries, he said.
Though there are lakhs of construction workers across the State, only 1.06 lakh were registered with the board. The Government would conduct a campaign to encourage workers to get register under the board, he added.