HKCCI asks for help from Union government for Kalyana Karnataka

The Hyderabad Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HKCCI), a group of industrialists and traders from the Kalyana Karnataka region, demanded that the Union government extend its financial support to Kalyana Karnataka on the model other regions which had received special status under various clauses. of article 371 of the Constitution.

HKCCI Chairman Prashant Mankar and Secretary Sharanabasappa Pappa on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers, New and Renewable Energy Bhagawanth Khuba, demanding financial assistance to the region .

“The Union government has granted special status to the Kalyana Karnataka region under Article 371 (J) of the Constitution. The Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB) was excluded from this special status. The Vidarbha regions similarly located in Maharashtra and Telangana State, which have been granted special status, have received central assistance from the Union government. But the same central assistance is not extended to the KKRDB. To ensure effective development of the Kalyana Karnataka region, we believe that the Union government should extend central assistance to KKRDB ”, urged Mr. Mankar and Mr. Pappa in the memorandum.

They also demanded that the Union government sanction special economic zones (SEZs), in particular pharma-specific SEZs, in the region.

“The development of Kalyana Karnataka and the eradication of poverty in the region can be effectively addressed if the government establishes a set of SEZs, more specifically related to the pharmaceutical sector. The neighboring state of Telangana has 63 SEZs on the outskirts of the city of Hyderabad. We ask very specifically [you] sanction pharmaceutical SEZs in all districts of Kalyana Karnataka to solve the problem of industrial development in the region, ”they said.

Leaders of the trade and industry body reminded the Union government of the railroad division that it sanctioned seven years ago and called on it to implement the project.

“The Sareen Justice Committee recommended the establishment of a railway division at Kalaburagi in 1984, as well as 38 railway divisions across the country. Almost all of the railway divisions recommended by the committee have been established. But the Kalaburagi Railways Division had to wait until 2013, when the then Minister of Railways announced a sanction for the creation of a Kalaburagi Railways Division on the Parliament floor. », They declared.

“Apart from that, the first stone was laid at Wadi Junction station the same year by the then Minister of Railways in the presence of the then Chief Minister and also the President of the Railway Council. of iron. This was followed by the acquisition of 42 acres of land in Kalaburagi for this purpose. A special officer was also appointed to oversee the establishment of the railway division. The special officer prepared and submitted a detailed draft of the railway division, including estimates, to the Railway Council. The board approved the project and the estimates and also identified the jurisdiction of the Kalaburagi railway division at its meeting held on April 30, 2014, ”they said.

“With the exception of the fencing of the acquired land, no visible steps have been taken to establish the railway division in Kalaburagi so far. In the absence of a railway division in Kalaburagi, the Kalyana Karnataka region, in terms of railway facilities, is fragmented and divided among five railway divisions. And, a rail commuter has to move through these five divisions to resolve a rail problem, if there is one, ”they said.

“That aside, the stations in Kalaburagi and Wadi contribute the lion’s share of revenue to the existing Sholapur rail division. In view of these realities on the ground, we ask for your intervention to set up the railway division in Kalaburagi ”, they declared.

Their demands included the modernization and development of the existing ESIC medical complex in Kalaburagi into an AIIMS level medical facility, a night landing facility for the airport, a textile mega park, the start of freight services since Kalaburagi Airport, the creation of an industrial corridor center at Kalaburagi and bring Kalaburagi under the Mumbai-Kanyakumari industrial corridor.