Belagavi, 12 Dec 

Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda informed the Legislative Council that 44,208 farmers have not received compensation for rain and flood-related crop loss due to technical mismatches in official records.

Gowda was responding to a question raised by MLC Thippannappa Kamakanur on Friday, who pointed out that many flood-hit people in Kalaburagi district have not received any compensation.

"About three per cent farmers have not received any compensation. The reason is mismatch in the names. Their name in Aadhaar didn't match with the name in the agriculture department," Gowda said. "Once they rectify these mistakes, money will be deposited into their bank accounts.”

He appealed to farmers to make the corrections in the names and link Aadhaar with bank accounts.

Gowda said that Kalaburagi district had reported crop loss in 3.23 lakh hectare, for which Rs 250.97 crore has been given as per State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) norms. 

Government has also given an additional relief of Rs 247.75 crore, he added. "A total of 498.76 crore has been given to affected farmers in Kalaburagi for crop loss," Gowda.

Statewide, he said, 14.21 lakh farmers are affected. With both the government’s additional grant of Rs 1,033 crore and SDRF norms, Rs 2,249 crore ahs been given. 

Dropping land acquisition won’t hurt Aerospace Park: Minister

Industries Minister MB Patil on Friday told the Assembly that the State government's decision to drop acquisition of 1,777 acres in Devanahalli near Bengaluru, following farmers' protests, will not be a setback to the Aerospace & Defence Park project there.

He pointed out that Karnataka contributes 65 per cent of India's aerospace and defence output and globally the state is considered the third largest ecosystem.

The Minister was replying to a question by Deputy Leader of the Opposition Arvind Bellad during the Question Hour. The BJP MLA demanded that the government relocate the Aerospace & Defence Park to a place between Belagavi and Hubballi-Dharwad.

The Karnataka government has declared 1,777 acres of land across 13 villages in Channarayapatna hobli, Devanahalli taluk, as a "Permanent Special Agricultural Zone." Long protests by farmers had led the government to drop the land acquisition plan.

“Just because one parcel of land had to be dropped (from acquisition) doesn't mean it's a setback. There is a growing demand in Bengaluru and surrounding regions, including Kolar, so we will have it there," Patil said. 

Bengaluru, Bengaluru Rural, Kolar and Chikkaballapur region is a "natural ecosystem" for the aerospace and defence sectors, he said.

Pointing out that there is no industrial corridor in Belagavi, Patil said, during a recent roadshow in Pune, he was asked to provide industrial space in Belagavi by some big industry.

“We have now identified a piece of land for an industrial park," he said.

BJP accuses Hebbalkar of lying about Gruha Lakshmi

The Opposition BJP in the accused Minister of Women and Child Development, Laxmi Hebbalkar, of providing "wrong information" regarding the Gruha Lakshmi scheme funds.

Leader of Opposition R Ashoka claimed Hebbalkar said funds were cleared till August, even though officials' letters from Dharwad, Gadag, and Haveri districts confirmed the amounts for February and March were not released. Ashoka demanded action against the minister for "disrespecting the House."

"Is there no one to question,” Ashoka asked. “The Chair at least should question the Ministers. What punishment will the Chair give to the minister for giving wrong answers....there seems to be a confusion in this government. I want to tell the Chief Minister (Siddaramaiah) to cut the night dinner meetings at least for 10 days. Let the Home Minister (G Parameshwara) ensure that dinner places are locked, at least the House will function properly then.”

Siddaramaiah intervened, assuring that the pending Gruha Lakshmi funds would be credited immediately and that Hebbalkar would issue a clarification on Monday.