Regional imbalances: Govt. to seek amendment

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, JULY 25. The Government has decided to approach the Centre to amend Article 371 of the Constitution to include specified backward areas to enable the State to pay more attention to them, as in the case of Telengana and Vidharba, without incurring legal disability of discrimination.

This was stated in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday by the Home Minister, Mr. Mallikarjuna Kharge. He said a Cabinet Sub- Committee had mooted the idea, and once it was approved by the Cabinet, it could be forwarded to the Centre either directly or through the legislature.

Mr. Kharge, who was intervening during a discussion on discrimination in the expenditure incurred on students of North Karnataka, said he had requested the Law Department, which was looking into the legal aspects of the matter, to expedite its consideration so that justice could be done to backward areas.

Mr. Kharge said such an amendment to the Constitution was necessary so that any favourable treatment meted out to the North Karnataka areas was not struck down by courts as discriminatory under Article 14.

Earlier, the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, Mr. H.Vishwanath, told the House that the Government had taken the first step in implementing the recommendations of the high power committee on regional imbalances by preparing a Rs. 311-crore three-year programme for educational development of North Karnataka.

Mr. Vishwanath said that of the non-salary allocation of Rs. 296 crores for the State, Rs. 162 crores would be spent on North Karnataka. He said the selection of high school teachers would be made on the lines of the CET.

Raising the issue, Mr. Subash Kallur (BJP) complained of discrimination in the location of high schools in Bidar District. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Jagadish Shettar, said the Government, which had admitted discrimination in the expenditure on students in North Karnataka, should take early action.

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Section  : Southern States
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