'Withdraw bill for package to Hyd-Kar region'

A parliamentary committee has recommended withdrawal of a Constitutional amendment bill which seeks to establish a mechanism for equitable allocation of funds to meet the development needs of six districts of erstwhile Hyderabad-Karnataka region.

In view of the opinion of the state government of Karnataka on the provisions of the present bill, the Committee recommends that Ministry of Home Affairs may withdraw this bill, a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs said in its report tabled in Rajya Sabha on Friday.
The Constitution (One Hundred Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, 2012 has proposed to insert a new Article 371 J in the Constitution to provide for special provisions for Gulbarga, Bidar, Raichur, Koppal, Yadgir and Bellary districts of Karnataka to accelerate development of these most backward regions of the state. The bill also proposed to make special provisions, through equitable allocation of funds, to meet the development needs of the region as well as to enhance human resources and promote employment by providing for local cadres in service and reservation in educational and vocational training institutions by an amendment to the Constitution.
The panel also noted that the Home Ministry has not taken Karnataka government into confidence and piloted the bill in Parliament. While agreeing with the views of state government of Karnataka, the committee feels that the Ministry of Home Affairs should have taken the state government into confidence about the provisions of the bill before piloting it in the Parliament, it said.
The committee asked the ministry that discussions with the Karnataka government may be held and a modified version of the bill may be brought forward before Parliament at the earliest.
PTI