H.K. Patil threatens to resign if Gadag is not declared drought-hit
H.K. Patil, Gadag MLA, has announced that he will resign from his Legislative Assembly seat if Gadag taluk is not declared drought-hit by October 10
H.K. Patil, Gadag MLA, has announced that he will resign from his Legislative Assembly seat if Gadag taluk is not declared drought-hit by October 10. Speaking at a farmers’ protest in Mulgund, Gadag district, on Sunday, he demanded that Gadag taluk be included in the list of drought-hit taluks. “I do not understand why Gadag taluk has not been included in the list despite recording a 49% rainfall deficit. I demand an explanation from the government for this omission.
I also demand that the government declare Gadag taluk drought-hit at the earliest,” the former Minister said. “I will make all necessary efforts at the government level to have Gadag taluk declared drought-hit. I will strive to ensure that this declaration is made within three days. If that is not possible, I will set October 10 as the deadline for the government to do so. If the declaration is not made by that date, I will resign as a member of the Legislative Assembly,” he said.
“I come from a farming family and understand the hardships faced by farmers. I also urge the government to declare the remaining severely affected taluks, including Gadag, as drought-hit and provide relief to farmers. As many as 27 of the 73 taluks in North Karnataka have been excluded from the list of drought-affected taluks. A meeting of officials was held under the leadership of the district in-charge Minister and local MLAs to discuss the drought situation.
Following the officials’ report, Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar visited Gadag district to assess crop damage. However, despite these developments, the failure to declare Gadag taluk drought-hit has caused dissatisfaction among farmers,” he said. Earlier, farmers took out a procession from the Ganesh Temple in Mulgund town to Basapura Cross and later blocked the Gadag-Lakshmeshwar State Highway, expressing their outrage against the State government.
The BriefWire